§ MR. WILES (Islington, S.)I beg to ask the Postmaster - General whether telegraphists in the cable room of the Central Telegraph Department are recruited from the staff in the inland section, and forfeit seniority upon their appointment to the cable section; whether an allowance of 2s. 6d. per week is granted to operators who can speak French and Gorman; if it has now been decided that the increment of 3s. per week granted to all telegraphists upon passing a test in technical and professional knowledge is to be merged in the language allowance for the cable staff; and, if so, whether these operators will therefore only receive 6d. per week extra for possessing qualifications that secure 3s. per week to other operators.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarThe statements in the hon. Member's Question are generally correct, except that the allowance of 2s. 6d. is given to all the operators in the cable room. The merging of the cable room allowance in the technical allowance is in accordance with an explicit recommendation of the Select Committee.