§ CAPTAIN DONELANOn behalf of the hon. Member for North Tipperary (Mr. PATRICK J. O'BRIEN), I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether his attention has been called to a case before the magistrate at the Southern Divisional Police Office in Dublin on the 12th instant, when two boys (telegraph messengers) between the ages of 14 and 15 years were charged and convicted of wilfully destroying telegrams intrusted to them for delivery, and, as proved in the case of the boy Malone, to save himself the trouble of delivery; and, whether the Postmaster General will consider the advisability of not for the future intrusting such responsible duties to boys of tender age, or what steps will be taken to safeguard the public interest involved in the safe delivery of telegrams?
§ MR. HANBURYThe proceedings against the two telegraph messengers in Dublin for wilfully destroying telegrams intrusted to them for delivery were instituted by the Postmaster General for purposes of example, due regard, of course, being had in the submission of the case to the Court to the age of the boys. Happily such a case is extremely rare, and the Postmaster General does not think that the circumstances are such as to call for any alteration in the present arrangements.