§ CAPTAIN CRAIG (Down, E.)To ask the Postmaster-General if he can see his way to allow as an equivalent to a civil service examination qualification, in the case of ex-soldiers applying for positions in the Sorting Department, Post Office, a first-class Army certificate for education and exemplary conduct.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) It has already been arranged to accept a first-class Army certificate in lieu of the qualifying examination for postmen, and also as evidence of the educational fitness of soldiers who have acquired skill in such a craft as telegraphy. But I do not see my way to go beyond this; and soldiers who possess no such special qualifications must compete in the ordinary way for sorterships or other Post Office appointments recruited by a competitive examination. I may add that concessions as regards age are made to ex-soldiers who are desirous of entering the competitions for sorterships.