MR. HARCOURTasked the Postmaster General, Whether he will state, for the information of persons who may 1519 be desirous of establishing Post Office Savings Banks (under guarantee) in remote rural districts, what arrangements will be made in respect to local officials now acting as postmasters or postmistresses in such districts; whether the facilities offered by the Postmaster General in respect to Post Office Savings Banks in rural districts will (if they are taken advantage of) involve loss of livelihood to many of the present humble officials; and, if such should be the case, whether provision can be made in future for the appointment of rural officials, who, in case of the establishment of Post Office Savings Banks, will be competent to retain their situations?
§ MR. FAWCETT,in reply, said, that, though in many cases money order offices had recently been established in the rural districts, he was unable to discover that a postmaster or postmistress, or any other official connected with the Post Office, had, in consequence, been dismissed. He hoped, therefore, that as no hardship had arisen in the past, none would occur in the future.