§ Sir R. BLADESasked the Postmaster-General what are the estimated returns of his Department for the year 1922–23 for letters, postcards, printed papers, and newspapers, both as regards volume and revenue; and how do these figures compare with 1921–22?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS:Returns of correspondence delivered in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were taken during a week in October last. These show increases over the corresponding figures of October, 1921, as follow:
Per cent. Letters 2.1 Postcards 5.0 Printed papers 22.2 Newspapers 1.2 These figures relate to the whole volume of correspondence, inland and foreign, paid and unpaid.
No record of the revenue obtained from the. different classes of correspondence is available. The total net postal receipts for 1921–2 (excluding Southern Ireland) amounted to £38,360,000, while those for the year 1922–3 are roughly estimated at £34,000,000.