§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)asked the Postmaster General, 373 Whether a principal clerk in the Secretary's Office of the General Post Office has recently made a complaint, at the instigation of his own daughter, of incivility on the part of certain female clerks in a local post office at Hampstead;whether, on the reference of this principal clerk, these female clerks were reprimanded for their alleged incivility;whether an impartial inquiry will be made, so as to ascertain the real facts of the case;and, whether, in the event of the Postmaster General being satisfied that the complaint was unjustifiable, the censure on the female clerks in question will be officially withdrawn?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)A complaint, such as that to which the hon. Member refers, has been recently made by a lady residing in Hampstead, and this lady happens to be the daughter of one of the principal clerks in the Secretary's Office. Having myself inquired into the matter, I feel constrained to state that, in my judgment, the matter is a very trumpery one;and I should much regret if, from the attention—the undeserved attention—it has received, the public were led to suppose that the relatives of Post Office servants claimed a greater amount of attention than other people. To judge from the testimony which the complaint has evoked in their favour, the two female clerks in question would seem to bear a high character for civility and attention in the discharge of their official duties, and to have conducted themselves generally to the satisfaction of the public. No official censure has been passed upon them, and they will receive none.