§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Postmaster-General whether the London postal service is treated separately from the provincial Post Office service, and all the superior appointments in it are given to London officials on the recommendation of the Controller; and, if so, will he explain why the Irish postal service is not treated separately as that of London, and why all superior Irish appointments are not given to officials serving in 570 Ireland on the recommendation of the Irish authorities.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The London postal service, like the postal service of every other town and city, whether in England, Scotland, or Ireland, is treated as a separate unit in matters of promotion, superior appointments being filled by transfer from elsewhere only when duly qualified officers cannot be found upon the local staff, a case which is rare when the staff is large, as in London. Postmasterships are open to the staff of the whole United Kingdom without distinction, but this mode of appointment cannot be conveniently applied to the officers who are designated postmasters in London, their position being dissimilar to that of postmasters elsewhere.