§ MR. O. V. MORGAN (Battersea)asked the Postmaster General, Whether there are at present in the Metropolitan Districts 25 first class telegraphists, whose length of service ranges from 18 to 24 years, who have been waiting at the maximum of their class since April, 1886; whether it is his intention to increase the senior class so as to relieve the congestion which at presort exists, and which must necessarily increase yearly as others arrive at the maximum; whether, in the Central Office, the number of senior telegraphists is 161, as compared with 334 first class, while in the Metropolitan Districts the numbers are 16 and 61 respectively; and, whether he will take the necessary steps to remedy the inequality?
THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)In reply to the hon. Member, I have to state that the number of the first class telegraphists in the Metropolitan District who have attained to the maximum of their scale of pay is 24. and they reached their maximum in 1886. Of these 24 officers 15 have completed 18 years of service, and nine have not. The numbers of the respective classes are as stated by the hon. Member. The difference is due to the comparatively much larger number of superior duties performed in the Central Telegraph Office. The numbers of the classes both in the Central Telegraph Office and in the Metropolitan District are fixed strictly in accordance with the numbers of superior duties to be performed; and as there are at present no additional duties of the kind to be provided for in the Metropolitan District, I do not feel justified in making an addition to the senior class.