§ MR. COURTHOPE (Sussex, Rye)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he 1704 is aware that under the Hobhouse award the maximum wages for male telegraphists at Hastings and Eastbourne is 52s. per week, while at Bexhill the maximum is fixed at 40s. per week; and, seeing that the cost of living at Boxhill is quite equal to Hastings and Eastbourne, whether he can explain the disparity of wages existing between officials of the same grade.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The recommendation of the Select Committee was that the new classification should be based upon the volume of work and the cost of living, and not on the cost of living alone. The position of Bexhill in the new classification has not yet been definitely settled.