§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General if his attention has been called to the fact that two assistant inspectors of postmen at Belfast were recently reported for employing telegraph messengers under sixteen years of age, the official minimum, to deal with public correspondence; and whether, in view of the fact that no older boys were available, he will explain why twenty-one boys, who had been detained from three to five years on the understanding that they would receive permanent employment as postmen as vacancies occurred, were a few months ago dismissed from 171 the service, and in some cases warned of impending dismissal, as places could not be found for them.
MR. SYDNEY BUTTONInquiry at Belfast has disclosed no recollection or record of the circumstances alluded to in the Question.