§ MR. JOWETT (Bradford, W.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to notices issued in provincial offices asking the staffs to recommend respectable men for temporary employment for Christmas 1368 pressure, and in which it is stated that men over fifty years of age should not be recommended; whether he will state why these men are barred from the Post Office portion of the proposals for the relief of unemployment; and whether he will take steps to have this proviso withdrawn.
§ (Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) My attention has not previously been called to the notices referred to. But, in view of the exacting nature of the work at Christmas, I do not think the employment in the provinces of temporary men over fifty years of age is, as a general rule, desirable. It is a question, indeed, whether at the larger provincial offices the limit of age should not be fixed at forty-five, as in London.