§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORI leg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, if he can explain why postmen John Knap-man and William Chave, of Torquay, who were in February 1894 appointed as full time unestablished men, and for three years after received the same increment as the established men in the same office, have had refused to them the increased increments recommended by the Tweedmouth Committee; on what ground has it been decided that they are only entitled to an increment every alternate year; and are they not included in the recognised established force at Torquay, which, according to the Estimates, consists of 45 postmen on a wage scale rising from 18s. to 2Cs. weekly by an annual increment of 1s. 6d.?
§ MR. HANBURYThe postmen John Knapman and William Chave, of Torquay, are not entitled to any increment under the provisions of the Tweed-mouth Scheme. On the contrary, under a strict observance of the rule of the Post Office these men should not be employed at all, as they failed to obtain the necessary Civil Service Certificate, but as an act of grace the Postmaster-General allowed them to remain in the service in the capacity of unestablished postmen on fixed wages. As a further act of grace they have from time to time been granted increases of pay from 1s. to 1s. 6d. a week. I may state that both men signed a form stating that they clearly understood that their employment was of a temporary nature, at fixed wages, terminable at any time, and that it gave them no claim to pension, gratuity, or compensation.