§ MR. STEADMAN (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that the wages paid to the Liverpool postal and telegrah staff on Saturday, 2nd July, were drawn from the cashier in the case of the telegraphists at 2 p.m. on the previous Friday, and in the case of the postmen and sorters at 4 p.m., and held in hand by the pay clerks until Saturday; also that early duty men kept on overtime till 10.30 p.m. through the American mails, and then coming on afternoon duty, had their families deprived of their wages until too late for the markets; whether in the 40 years the indoor staff and the 16 years the outdoor staff have enjoyed the privilege of payment on Fridays, a single case of an employee decamping without completing the Saturday's work has been known; and whether the Department will return to the former practice?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonIt was, of course, necessary for the officer entrusted with the duty of paying the staff to draw the amount from the cashier beforehand. The Postmaster General regrets if inconvenience was caused to a section of the men by their receiving their wages somewhat later than the rest, and with a view to preventing this as far as possible in future, he has arranged for the wages to be paid as soon as the staff come on duty on Saturday. He is not aware of any post office servant at Liverpool having failed to perform the 318 Saturday's work for which he had been paid in advance on the day before, but he has no power to sanction the payment on Friday of wages to be earned on the following day.