§ MR. BROOKE (Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he can make any arrangements whereby a certain number of the unemployed on the list of the Central Unemployed Committee in London can be taken on as temporary auxiliaries for post office work at the time of the Christmas pressure.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarI am glad to be able to inform my hon. friend that some weeks ago I communicated with the Central Unemployed Committee in London informing them that, if they desired, I would make arrangements whereby a certain number of suitable persons on their lists should receive employment, as temporary auxiliaries for post office work during the time of Christmas pressure. I stated that I should desire to give preference to married men, and that, of course, it was important that those who were selected should have some knowledge of the work or some aptitude for it. About 400 men recommended by the Committee have 613 been engaged, some of whom will begin work on the 22nd instant, and others on subsequent dates. I may add, in regard generally to the temporary auxiliaries employed by the Post Office, that I have raised the limit of age from forty to forty-five, and given instructions that preference is to be given to married men.