§ Lieut.-Colonel Wickhamasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the serious delays which occur in the delivery of letters to and from India, both by ordinary mail, air-mail and airgraph; and what steps he contemplates in order to improve the position?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonI am aware that the time occupied in the transmission of mails between this country and India compares unfavourably with the time taken in normal conditions. So far as ordinary (surface) correspondence is concerned the longer transit time is due primarily to the fact that the ships conveying the mails not only have to proceed by the long sea route via the Cape but are liable, for security reasons; to be diverted or detained en route. According to the latest available information, the average time of transmission of the mails from port to port is now about 10 weeks in either direction. Close contact is maintained with the other Government Departments concerned to ensure that mails are sent by every suitable outlet, and I regret that in present conditions I see no prospect of effecting any appreciable improvement. Owing to the limited amount of aircraft accommodation available for mail transport between this country and Africa, air mail letters to and from India have to be conveyed by sea in both directions over that portion of the route. The transmission-time by this combined sea and air route is normally about 7½ weeks, but is subject to wide variation owing to the conditions affecting sea transport to which I have referred and to occasional delays due to congestion of urgent priority traffic on the air services. Airgraph mails for and from India are carried all the way by air, the time of transmission being about three weeks. I am not aware of any avoidable delay having occurred in the transmission of these mails. The recently introduced air letters will also normally be carried by air all the way to India. The average times of transmission mentioned above take no account of the interval between successive despatches or the time which 1797W elapses between the arrival of the mails in the country of destination and delivery of the correspondence to the addressees. For correspondence sent from India to the United Kingdom the latter is not a serious factor but for correspondence sent to members of the Forces in India who are on the move or are situated at remote locations a longer period must be anticipated. In this connection I understand that the arrangements for the delivery of correspondence to the Forces are receiving active consideration by the military authorities in India in order to eliminate the possibility of any avoidable delay.