§ MR. NANNETTII beg to ask the Postmaster-General if his attention has been called to an order issued by the Dublin authorities that all boys engaged there as telegraph messengers over sixteen are to seek for other employment or be dismissed after three months; whether he is aware that in the past town postmen were recruited from the efficient boys, and that there are a number of those boys over eighteen years of age who have no trade or other available means of employment; and, if so, will he say if this order has been issued with his sanction; and whether the Dublin authorities are urging these boys to join His Majesty's Army by promising them re-employment after three years service in the Army.
§ THE POSTMASTER - GENERAL (Lord STANLEY, Lancashire, Westhoughton)I regret that it has been necessary to discontinue for a time the appointment of telegraph messengers at Dublin as assistant postmen, since there are already an unduly large number of assistant postmen waiting for estab- 1060 lished appointments. The messengers over sixteen years of age have therefore been informed that it is to their advantage to seek other employment; but they have not been urged to join the Army.