§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether, with reference to the three vacancies which were recently created through the promotion of the former holders in the ranks of acting or relieving postmasters on the staff of the Belfast post office, to which persons were appointed who hold the position of eighth, twenty-third, and thirtieth on the local seniority list of the telegraph branch of that office, he will state the respective length of service of each, the mode of selection adopted, and the particular qualification that they possessed which led to their preferment, to the exclusion of their seniors, upon that list; will he also state the average length of service of the first seven on the list; and whether, seeing that a general knowledge of postal as well as telegraph duties is essential to the due performance of the duties of an acting postmaster, he will say where and when did the appointees, in this instance, acquire such knowledge, particularly in respect of the proper treatment of the various accounts of head post offices.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The respective services of the three sorting clerks and telegraphists at Belfast who were recently selected for the duty of taking charge of vacant offices are, Number eight, twenty years and eight months; Number twenty-three, sixteen years and ten months; and Number thirty, fifteen years and ten months. The average length of service of the seven senior men is twenty-nine and a half years. The three officers were selected, because, taking into account the general qualifications of all the 838 eligible officers, they were considered to be the most suitable for the duty.