MR. MAC NEILLI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether his attention has been called to the case of Thomas Elliott, who was engaged as an assistant in the Lurgan Post Office from 22nd April, 1889, till 19th May, 1890, and discharged without notice; whether he is aware that during the time Thomas Elliott was so engaged charges of embezzlement were brought against another assistant, who was dismissed after due investigation of the matter by a surveyor from the General Post Office; can he explain on what grounds Thomas Elliot, 703 having worked a year without pay and having been appointed as locum tenens to one of the clerks during his vacation, a period of three weeks, was at the end of the first week summarily dismissed; on what grounds was the said Thomas Elliott so dismissed, and was his dismissal connected directly or indirectly with the said embezzlement; and, inasmuch as his character has suffered, will an inquiry which he has demanded be granted for the investigation of the circumstances connected with his dismissal?
§ SIR H. MAXWELLThomas Elliott was a servant not of the Post Office, but of the postmaster of Lurgan, to whom he acted as unpaid assistant, one of the conditions of his employment being, it is understood, that his services might be discontinued at any time without notice. In the course of the investigation referred to by the hon. Member, Elliott admitted that he had concealed certain facts which it was his plain duty to disclose to his employer the postmaster, and it was on this ground alone that the latter discontinued his services. In these circumstances, the Post Office cannot undertake to make any further inquiry.