§ MR. CHARLES M'ARTHUR (Liverpool, Exchange)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, whether he is aware that at the Liverpool Post Office there are 260 postal clerks with 79 superior appointments, and 365 telegraphists with but 57 superior appointments; whether 16 postal clerks are now at their maximum 274 salary, and 68 telegraphists are in like position, the former having an average length of service of 20 years, while the latter have an average of 22 years' service; and whether, in view of the fact that Mr. Faweett and the Tweedmouth Committee recommended that the two services should be placed upon an equality, some revision of the Liverpool telegraph service will take place.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HANBURY,) PrestonThe answer to the first paragraph is yes; but the number of sorting clerks at their maximum is 29, not 16. Mr. Fawcett recommended common scales for sorting clerks and telegraphists at provincial post offices, but his scheme did not contemplate the possibility of providing an equal flow of promotion in the two establishments. The Tweedmouth Committee recognised that the existence of more superior appointments on the postal side than on the telegraph side of the service was unavoidable, as there is on the postal side a greater necessity for supervising officers, and the number of superior appointments in both brandies must be regulated by the requirements of the service. The requirements of the telegraph service at Liverpool were specially examined last year in accordance with the general undertaking given by the Postmaster-General and myself, and a considerable addition was made to the number of superior telegraph appointments. There is no necessity at present for a further revision.