§ MR. SCHWANN () Manchester, N.To ask the Postmaster-General if postmen are still eligible for appointment to established postmasterships; and, if so, will he state why only one vacancy out of seventeen occurring in the Manchester surveyor's district since June, 1897, has been awarded to a postman; and, if any special qualifications are necessary for these postmasterships, will postmen be allowed opportunities for qualifying.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) Postmen are eligible for appointment to established postmasterships, and applications from them are always carefully considered with those of other candidates. If one only has been appointed recently in the Manchester district it is because other 601 candidates were more suitable. A postman can, in the performance of his work, exhibit the qualities desirable in a postmaster, and it would not be practicable to employ him on other work.