§ DR. FARQUHARSON (Aberdeenshire, W.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether telegraph clerks are paid at a rate and a quarter for all overtime; whether their hours of duty are eight per diem; whether they perform duties of nine and ten hours, for which so-called compensation is allowed of duties of seven and six hours; and whether, having regard to the fact that clerks when performing these long duties are subjected to precisely the same strain as when the extra time is overtime, he is prepared to recommend 629 that the additional quarter be paid for all hours of duty performed after the official eight-hour day?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON,) Manchester, N.E.Telegraphists are paid for overtime as stated. Their hours of work are eight hours on an average; but, owing to the exigencies of the Service, at certain hours of the day they are employed longer on some days and shorter on others. The payments for overtime have recently been fixed after careful consideration, and I do not think it is expedient to revise them.