Mr. POLLOCKasked the Postmaster-General whether, having regard to the fact that the Post Office is bound under the Universal Post Convention, in the case of foreign mails arriving in the United Kingdom, to forward them by the most rapid routes, this obligation extends to mails despatched from Great Britain; if so, why are the outward mails to New York delayed by calling at Queenstown on Thursdays and Sundays; whether his attention has been called to the fact that these calls at Queenstown cause delay in the arrival at New York and in the delivery of the mails to inland places in the United States; and, seeing that when the Cunard steamers "Mauretania" and "Lusitania" are the mail vessels the mails cannot arrive in New York on Thursdays in time to be sent forward the same night, thus causing a delay of twenty-four hours in the case of many cities and towns, so that instead of it being possible to post replies on Friday in time for the Saturday eastward mail letters cannot be despatched until the following Tuesday, whether he will take steps to prevent the delay thus caused?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELUnder the Convention of the Universal Postal Union each administration is bound to forward mails of foreign origin by the most rapid routes at its disposal for its own mails. This obligation has always been discharged by the Post Office of the United Kingdom. A considerable proportion of the mails of foreign origin sent to the United States of America in transit through this country is sent with the express object of securing embarkation on the packets at Queenstown; and in the present circumstances the omission of the call at that port on the outward voyage would involve a considerable curtailment of the facilities for late posting at present enjoyed by the public in many continental countries as well as in the United Kingdom. In other words, while omission of the Queenstown call would no doubt result in the earlier arrival of the packets in New York, a portion of the correspondence now conveyed would be excluded from the mails; and the balance of advantage rests with the existing arrangements.