asked the Postmaster-General whether the new Elmbridge telephone exchange in Surrey will be completed by the 1st July; the date upon which existing subscribers in the Surbiton area have been officially notified that they will be transferred and the new charges come into operation; and whether, in view of the increase in subscribers in that area necessitating this transfer, he will investigate the whole position and see if it is possible to extend the radius from London to a mileage which would include the Elmbridge exchange, so that subscribers will not have to bear an increased charge for London calls?

The new Elmbridge exchange will be established on the 1st July next. The London radius for assessing call charges is at present 10 miles from Oxford Circus. On financial grounds that radius cannot be increased, and I regret that I am unable to make an exception in the case of any particular locality. I should add that, on the transfer of subscribers to Elmbridge, rentals will be reduced by £1 per annum per line, and a large proportion of the subscribers concerned will benefit by reason of the transfer.

Is the right hon. Gentleman quite sure that the Elmbridge exchange will be completed by the let July? In view of the very strong feeling which is held locally in regard to his arbitrary action, will the right hon. Gentleman receive a deputation from the District Council and the Chamber of Trade, so that he may be apprised of the great hardship that has been placed upon the people of that locality?

I shall be glad to receive a deputation. In regard to the exchange, it will be completed in April, but I do not think that it will be established then on the new site.

Will it be an automatic exchange?

asked the Postmaster-General what is the added cost to his Department of the new micro-telephone receivers as compared with the standard instrument; and how many telephone subscribers have agreed to pay the added charge of 16s. a year demanded for the installation of the improved receiver?

The initial cost of the new instrument is substantially higher than that of the standard pattern, but the hon. and gallant Member will realise that the actual contract price must necessarily be regarded as confidential. A more important factor than the heavier initial cost is that the new instrument is expected to prove more expensive to maintain owing, inter alia, to the transmitter being of a more complicated design. Costs in this respect are necessarily problematical at the present stage. The additional rental of 4s. a quarter charged for the new instrument has been fixed to cover the extra cost involved under both heads, but the charge will be reviewed in the light of experience. Up to the present about 3,500 subscribers have ordered the new instrument.

If we may not know the cost of the instrument may we know how much more it costs than the original instrument?

I could not give that figure off-hand, but the point of my answer is that the reason for the extra rental is not the extra initial cost, but the fact that it is a delicate instrument which requires more looking after, and, in fact, requires three times as much in the way of repairs as the original.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that it is so much more reliable as to justify the extra cost?

We have only been using it for a few months, but the results up to the present have led us to increase our orders.

Will the Postmaster-General give a guarantee that no profit will be made by the Post Office out of the extension to the public of this undoubted convenience?

I may say that I propose to review the finances of it at the end of 12 months, and, if it is found that any undue profit is made, I propose to reduce the cost.

asked the Postmaster-General what success has been achieved in the Post Office wireless telephony tests with Australia which have now been proceeding for seven months; how many average hours commercial service per day can be guaranteed as a result of tests covering the complete 24 hours; and how many average hours commercial service per day were guaranteed by Imperial and International Communications, Limited?

The average hours of service per day taken over the whole year guaranteed by the Imperial and International Communications Company are 13 under one proposal and 15 under alternative proposals. As I have already stated, I am advised that the Rugby and Baldock Stations are capable of maintaining telephone services for as many hours as the Beam stations and probably for more. But the important question is not the total number of hours of service but the possibility of providing service during hours which cover effectively the common working or waking day. The Post Office experience confirms my belief. that it will be possible to provide service via Rugby and Baldock during longer portions of the waking day common to. both countries.

May I ask the Postmaster-General if he will be good enough to reply to the first part of any question as to what success has been achieved by the Post Office wireless telephone system, referring to the actual achievements.

Very great success. has been achieved.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in any future-contracts to carry mails between Great Britain and our Dominions, the British Government will always be a party to. such contracts and have a clause inserted so that it may be possible in future for British subjects, travelling on British lines carrying British mails, to purchase British postage stamps during either the outward or homeward journey?

I am afraid I am not in a position to give any undertaking in the sense which the right hon. Member desires.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think it is very degrading for British subjects on a British steamer not to be able to purchase British postage stamps?

There is no steamer on which a British subject cannot purchase stamps, but there are certain steamers on which letters have to be sent with the stamp of the country making the contract.

May I ask whether it is not a fact that on the Union Castle line to South Africa, you cannot purchase a British stamp?

Is not the stamp of a Dominion of the Crown a British stamp? Is it degrading to use the stamp of a British Dominion or Colony?