§ Mr. WARDLEasked the Postmaster-General what proportion of the employés of the National Telephone Company are to be taken over by the Post Office at the end of the present year; and what arrangements he is making with regard to the residue of the staff?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELAs promised in this House in August, 1905, by the then Postmaster-General, all the officers and servants of the National Telephone Company in receipt of less than £700 per an-num who have been not less than two-years continuously in the service of the company on 31st December next, will be taken into the service of the Post Office, subject to the condition as to medical fitness laid down in Clause 4 of the Memorandum read by my predecessor. I have no information at the present time as to what proportion of the existing force of the company is covered by this promise. In all probability, moreover, the great majority of the officers and servants of the company who will have had less than two years' service on 31st December next, and who are in receipt of less than £700 a year, will also be taken over, provided their health is satisfactory.