§ MR. M'CARTANI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the telegraph clerks at the Central Telegraph Office are the only body of officers under his administration who are required to work from eight to twelve hours with no relief for the purpose of obtaining any meal; whether complaints have reached him that the tea which is provided, and the facilities for supper, are frequently 715 rendered useless owing to the impossibility of partaking of such meals on account of the pressure of work; and whether, under these circumstances, he will now consider the reasonableness of the request for at least half an hour's relief for the purpose; of obtaining refreshment? I have also to ask with reference to the two clerks in the Central Telegraph Office promoted over the heads of their seniors, what was the nature of "the diligent inquiry" which was made to ascertain that they were the only clerks possessing the required qualifications; whether this inquiry was conducted on such lines that all clerks claiming to possess the necessary qualifications had an equal chance of winning the promotion; and whether these extra telegraphic appointments are among those described in the Estimates as "Telegraphists"?
§ * MR. RAIKESIn no case are Post Office servants, whether telegraphists or others, kept at work for as much as eight hours without being afforded the opportunity of obtaining refreshments; and no such complaints have reached mo as those to which the hon. Member refers. To the hon. Member's second question the answer is that the inquiry was addressed, not, ineed, to the telegraphists themselves, who are not, perhaps, the best judges of their own qualifications, but to those who, in my opinion, were the most competent to judge. The persons who fill the two appointments in question are among those who are described in the Estimates as telegraphists.