MR. BEADLAUGH (Northampton)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that it has been the practice to announce in the Official Postal Circular vacancies occurring in Postmasterships, &c, and the date by which application to fill such vacancy could be sent in; whether such practice has recently been departed from; whether a recent Post Office Circular contains the record of 10 appointments, all made without any previous announcement that a vacancy existed; and whether he will state to the House the reasons for the change?
§ * MR. RAIKESI am quite aware of the practice to which the hon. Member refers, and no change has been made as regards the general custom. I must, at the same time, say that I am under no obligation to maintain the practice. The hon. Member is mistaken in supposing that in the case of the 10 appointments to Post masterships recently made no previous announcement of a 906 vacancy had appeared. The fact is that only four Postmasterships were vacant, and they were all notified in the usual way in the Post Office Circular. The candidates selected to fill these four vacancies were all Postmasters, and with the view of giving as wide and simultaneous a flow of promotion as possible I selected others from among the candidates, several of whom were themselves Postmasters, to fill the posts thus rendered vacant.