NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the Controller of the Dublin Sorting Office has as yet made good to the revenue any, and, if so, how much, of the £1,600 defalcations which occurred under his control, and which he was informed by the Postmaster General he was liable to be called upon to pay; if not, under what circumstances has he been freed from his liability; whether his attention has been directed to the fact that this official, before his promotion to the controllership, and when chief clerk to the late controller, was responsible for checking 720 the accounts of the defaulting officer; and whether, during the investigation following the disclosures, the falsification was found to have been practised during the period for which he, when chief clerk, was responsible, although he vouched as correct fictitious entries in the accounts of the defaulting officer.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe Postmaster General is aware of all the circumstances under which an Assistant Superintendent in the Dublin Sorting Office was found to have embezzled a large sum of money, and those Officers whose neglect of duty facilitated the fraud were severely punished. The Superintendent and Chief Clerk who were responsible for checking the accounts of the dishonest officer were reduced in rank and salary, and disciplinary notice was taken of the neglect of other officers concerned. The Controller of the Sorting Office was not proved to have contributed to the fraud by any personal negligence; but as he has a general responsibility for the money dealt with in the office, he was called upon to make good £10 of the loss as a mark of the Postmaster General's disapproval of the lax system which was found to prevail there.