§ MR. THORNTON (Clapham)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to a case of arbitration under Section 2 of The Savings Bank Society Act, 1876, heard on 19th June, 1908, by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies, with reference to the misappropriation of a sum of £270 belonging to the Lord Bagot Lodge of the Manchester Unity of the Independent 80 Order of Oddfellows Friendly Society by the late Lewis Myatt, who committed, suicide in October, 1906, and who, while secretary of the Lord Bagot Lodge, was postmaster of Abbots Bromley in the sub-district of Rugeley, Staffordshire; whether he is aware that owing to his position as postmaster he was enabled to apply to his own use moneys entrusted to him by the lodge for deposit in the Post Office Savings Bank; and whether he or any of his staff consulted the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies or either of his assistants in any way on the matter previously to the case being submitted to the Chief Registrar by the directors of the Manchester Unity for arbitration.
I beg further to ask the Postmaster-General whether, as the Post Office authorities desire that the directors of the Manchester Unity should call the special attention of its 4,000 branches to the necessity for extra vigilance while one person holds a fiducial position in the society and is at the same time postmaster, he will issue instructions to his officers that they are not to accept money for deposit from societies for which they may be acting unless it is tendered by an officer of the society who is not connected with the Post Office and on the Post Office premises when they are open for public business, in order that all entries in depositors' Post Office Savings Bank books bearing the official stamp of the office shall be evidence of the receipt by the Postmaster-General of the amounts entered.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON, Tower Hamlets, Poplar)The position of sub-postmaster held by the late secretary of the Lord Bagot Lodge of Oddfellows, did not in itself enable him to apply to his own use moneys entrusted to him for deposit in the Post Office Savings Bank. Frauds have been committed, in a similar way by officers of friendly societies who were not Post Office servants; and in all such cases they have been rendered possible only by the negligence of other society officials. The Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies was asked in March, 1907, whether he could take steps to render more effective the audit of friendly society accounts; but apart from this, he has not 81 been consulted in any way in connection with the case by any officer of the Post Office. I am considering at the present time what can be done to prevent as far as possible frauds of this kind, whether by Post Office servants or by others.