§ MR. DIXON-HARTLANDasked the Postmaster General, Whether his attention has been called to the long-continued stagnation of promotion in the Money Order Officer; whether that is mainly caused by the transfer of a good deal of the "Money Order" business to the "Postal Order" Department, dealt with by a newly-created staff; whether since April 1873, that is, for nearly twelve years, there have been only two promotions from second to first class clerkships; and, whether, if this is so, as the clerks claim to be servants of the General Post Office and Civil Service generally, and not of a department, he will see that steps are now taken to secure to the officers of the Money Order Office the maintenance of the prospects with which they entered the service by giving them, if necessary, an adequate share of promotion outside their own department?
§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREIt is true that but few vacancies have occurred in the upper ranks of the Money Order Office in recent years, and, consequently, 1688 the promotion has not been rapid. The number of clerkships in the upper ranks has not been reduced since the introduction of the postal-order system, and, therefore, the stagnation of promotion is in no way due to that measure. I have endeavoured to meet the case to some extent by granting appointments to other branches of the Post Office Service; but I will not pledge myself to follow that course in future, although I may, perhaps, do so.