§ MR. HAYDEN (Leitrim, S.)asked the Postmaster General, Whether the rural postman between Carrick-on-Shannon and Drumsna, County Leitrim, travelling between those places twice daily, has to walk a distance of 20 Irish miles per day; whether his first journey com- 293 mences at 5 o'clock a.m., and his last ends at 10 p.m.; and, whether his remuneration for this work is only 11s. per week; and, if this statement be true, he will consider whether a more adequate rate of remuneration should not be given?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (MR. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)The official walk of the rural postman between Carrick-on-Shannon and Drumsna is 12 statute miles on week days and nine and a-quarter on Sundays; but, for his own convenience, after finishing his delivery at Drumsna each morning, he returns to Carrick-on-Shannon, and goes out again to Drumsna in the evening to commence the collection, thus adding rather more than six miles a-day to his walk. He starts from Carrick-on-Shannon at 5 a.m., and returns at 9 p.m. These are exceptional hours; and inquiry is being made whether they cannot be somewhat curtailed, without materially lessening the public convenience. The postman's wages are 11s. a-week, and that is about the rate paid in Ireland for a walk of 12 miles a-day.