§ MR. SEXTON (for Mr. DWYER GRAY), asked the noble Lord the Postmaster General, Whether it is the fact that the maximum salaries of Superintendents of Sorting and Telegraph Branches are similar in all English cities and towns where such officials are on the establishment, whilst the salaries of the Superintendents of the Sorting Offices in Edinburgh and Dublin are fixed at £200 per annum more than those of the Superintendents of the Telegraph Department at these offices, notwithstanding that the latter are responsible for the administration of their respective offices throughout the entire twenty-four hours, whilst the former are only responsible for their period of duty, which generally consists of five hours per day, and that the Telegraph Superintendents have much larger staffs of subordinates to control and supervise than those of the Sorting Branches; whether it is a fact that superintendence of the Sorting office in Dublin is performed by two officials with maximum salaries of £500 each per annum, whilst the superintending work of the Telegraph Department in that office must be performed by one man, whose maximum salary is only £300 per annum, and who, in addition to an ability to administer the ordinary routine of official work (the only essential requisite for superintending the Sorting Office) must have a large knowledge of electrical science, which knowledge can only be obtained by a long-continued course of private study; whether it is a fact that the sorting office "clerks" enjoy maximum salaries considerably in excess of the "clerks" of the Telegraph Department in both Edinburgh and Dublin, although the latter perform eight hours duty per week more than the former; and, whether he will investigate these matters with a view to having the two departments placed on a footing of equality in both Dublin and Edinburgh? His hon. Friend had asked him to say that the figures should be £150, instead of £200, and £450, instead of £500.
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Lord JOHN MANNERS)While admit- 1275 ting that the statements of the hon. Member relating to the rates of salary are correct, I should hardly be justified in taking up the time of the House with the full explanation which an answer to all the suggestions and inferences of the hon. Member would require. I may, however, say that the circumstances to which he refers shall receive attention.