§ MR. BRADLAUGH (Northampton)asked the Postmaster General, Whether two second class clerks in the Savings Bank Department have recently been appointed to first class clerkships, 73 seniors in one case and 86 seniors in the other having been passed over; and, 15 whether he can state the grounds on which the Controller General of the Savings Bank Department found it necessary in so many cases to disregard the Rule as to seniority?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)In answer to the hon. Member, I have to state that the two clerks who stood in the list in the order stated were recommended for promotion some months back, and that I sanctioned the recommendation only with great reluctance and after much doubt. The printed Regulations prescribe that promotion to the higher classes depends upon merit, not seniority. The hon. Member may be glad to know that having acted in these particular instances upon the recommendations made to me, I have determined to fill three other vacancies which have recently occurred in this branch by the selection of clerks senior in standing to those referred to in the Question.