§ 80. Colonel YATEasked why the percentage of ex-soldiers and sailors employed at the Record Office, England, as messengers and attendants, etc., has decreased from 25.76 to 24.24, or by 1.52 per cent, since the issue of the Parliamentary Return of the 9th August, 1911; and whether steps will be taken to bring the percentage up to at least 50 per cent.?
§ Mr. MASTERMANI understand the difference in the percentage is due to the appointment of an ex-policeman as a messenger. Attendants and repairers at the Record Office are a special class which could not advantageously be recruited from ex-soldiers and sailors. Messengers are already recruited from the pensioner messenger class.