§ MR. W. JOHNSTONOn behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for North Belfast I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether a memorial was received from the officers in the clerk class regarding the appointing of additional assistant superintendents at Belfast, in which it is stated that three officers, in that class were performing constantly duties analogous to those performed by assistant superintendents; that some of these officers have been performing these duties for 15 years without promotion to the class of assistant superintendent; and that the number of assistant superintendents at 19 Belfast is much lower in proportion to the staff than at any other large office; and whether he will make inquiries into the case?
§ MR. HANBURYA memorial has been received from the clerks on the telegraph establishment at Belfast to the effect described by the hon. Member, but it is not the case that some of these officers have; performed the duties of assistant superintendents for 15 years. They may possibly have done so from time to time for short periods on emergencies, but this would be in accordance with the common rule of the service. The duties of the telegraph staff at Belfast were thoroughly revised six years ago, when the number of assistant superintendents was raised from three to seven, to correspond with the number of duties proper to that class. The number of assistant superintendents at Belfast is not, as stated, much lower in proportion to the staff than at any other large office; indeed, it is higher than at some offices. I may state, however, that the question of the number of the supervising officers at Belfast is at present under consideration in connection with the general undertaking by the Postmaster General and myself to ascertain whether an adequate number of supervising officers are employed on the telegraph side of provincial offices.