§ Mr. WILESasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the Department, in its evidence before the Hob-house Committee, stated that some overseers' 2008 work in London was equal in importance to some second class assistant superintendents' work in the provinces, and that the Report mentions this fact in Paragraph 409; that the Hobhouse Committee, following on this evidence, recommended the creation of a class of assistant superintendents, second class, in the London Postal Service into which the inspectors were to be merged; and that the Department, instead of making the inspectors a portion of the new class, caused them to solely constitute it, and so made no provision for the increased status of the duties alluded to in Paragraph 409; and whether, seeing that he has recently increased the status of the duties in question and caused them to be merged with those of the assistant superintendents, second class, he will state why these appointments are not dated from 1st January, 1908, in accordance with the Hob-house recommendation?
Mr. H. SAMUELI am aware that the Department in its evidence before the Parliamentary Committee stated that some Overseers' work in London was equal in importance to some second class assistant superintendents' work in the provinces, and that the Report mentions this fact ill Paragraph 409. I am not aware however, that the Committee recommended the creation of a class of second class assistant superintendents in the London Postal Service in consequence of that evidence. As I understand the recommendation, the Committee considered that the class of inspectors should be abolished, that the members of it should become assistant superintendents, second class, reserving their rights to their old maximum, and that all future appointments arising from vacancies or the creation of additional posts should be made to the new class. The Committee evidently desired to get rid of the anomalous title of "inspectors," which was shared by other classes whose work and scales of pay were quite dissimilar. Under the recent revision of the supervising force of the London Postal Service a number of additional higher appointments were found to be justified, but there is no reason to think that the Committee contemplated a revision of the numbers of the various classes as from the date of the adoption of their recommendations.