§ MR. SEALE HAYNE (Devon, Ashburton)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, why the town postmen of Teignmouth receive a lower scale of pay than those of Torquay; whether there is any essential difference in the cost of living and house rent for the industrial classes at these much-frequented watering-places; and whether he will take into his favourable consideration the Report of Lord Tweedmouth's Committee, which says that the question of wages of those officers who are employed at seaside resorts should be specially considered?
§ MR. HANBURYTorquay being a much larger town than Teignmouth has a very much larger correspondence, and the abnormally hilly nature of the area of delivery makes the postmen's duties more onerous. A higher scale for the postmen at Torquay is amply justified by these considerations alone, but it is also the fact that the cost of living there is higher than at any town on the coast of South Devon. The question whether any increase of wages can be granted for the postmen at Teignmouth is, however, already under consideration. The Tweedmouth Committee did not report that the wages of postmen employed at seaside resorts should be specially considered.