§ MR. MACALEESEI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, with reference to the 83 applications stated to have been received in respect of the recent vacancy in, the postmastership of Monaghan, how many of these were from Ireland; of the entire number of the applicants how many, if any, held the position of provincial clerks in charge; what was the respective class rank of each at the time of making application, their respective length of service, and for what portion of such service did they hold the position of provincial clerk in charge; for what period of his 12 years of service did the present postmaster of Monaghan, fill this position, and what was his rank according to seniority on, the staff of the second class of the Dublin office to which he was attached before receiving his recent promotion; and was Rule 38 of Instructions to Head Postmasters adhered to in the appointment of the Monaghan postmaster?
§ MR. HANBURYOf the 83 applicants for the postmastership of Monaghan, 43 were from Ireland and 40 from other parts of the United Kingdom. Of the 83 applicants 10 were provincial clerks in charge; of these I was a telegraphist of the first class, with a service of 22 years, having acted as provincial clerk in charge for 9 years. Seven were sorting clerks and telegraphists with service as follows: —22 years, 5 years as provincial clerk in charge; 21 years, 11 years as provincial clerk in charge; 19 years, 10 years as provincial clerk in charge; 12 years, 10 years as provincial clerk in charge; 12 years, 1 year as provincial clerk in charge; 11 years, 9 years as provincial clerk in charge; 8 years, 5 years as provincial clerk in charge. One was a telegraphist of the second class with a service of 20 years, having acted as provincial clerk in charge for 2 years; and one was a sorting clerk of the second class (Mr. Williams, who was appointed postmaster of Monaghan), with a, service of 11 years, for 4½, of which he had acted as provincial clerk in charge. The position of the postmaster of Monaghan on, the second class of sorting clerks in Dublin was No. 104, on a class numbering 252. So far as the Postmaster of Monaghan is concerned, the Postmasters' Rule No. 38 appears to have been strictly 1349 adhered to. He was selected for the post-mastership because he was regarded as the best qualified candidate.