§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he has yet received the appeal of Mr. Fox, of Porta- 934 down against the award of the local officials; whether he can state the date upon which he forwarded the appeal and the date upon which the Postmaster-General received it; and whether it is usual to ask an officer to perform punishment against which he appealed some months before the Postmaster-General receives the papers from the local authorities.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) Mr. Fox's appeal of February 28th was transmitted to the secretary, after inquiry in Ireland, on April 6th. The matter, though trivial, was complicated, and farther inquiry was found necessary. The appeal was submitted to me for final decision on the 3rd inst., and I came to the conclusion that the two hours extra work which Mr. Fox was required to perform was not an excessive punishment for his carelessness. The other matters referred to by the hon. Member are dealt with in my reply to his Question of the 8th ultimo.†