SIR HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the Postmaster-General if his attention has been called to the meeting at the Royal United Service Institution on May 16th, whereat complaint was made of the little employment 964 offered by Government Departments to ex-soldiers and sailors of good character; and if he can state generally how many former soldiers and sailors are now in the employ of the General Post Office, to how many permanent employment was given between April 1st, 1904, and March 31st, 1905, and to how many temporary employment was given.
LORD STANLEYMy attention has been called to the meeting at the Royal United Service Institution and to the complaint to which the hon. Member refers, and I have to say that there is clearly some misapprehension. In connection with the Return for which the hon. Member is asking full particulars will be obtained, but I may say at once that during the last financial year about 1,000 ex-soldiers and sailors received Post Office appointments in the United Kingdom under Civil Service Certificates, in addition to a considerable number who were employed in various unestablished capacities.