§ Mr. DAWESasked the Postmaster-General whether he will state the number of sorters in the London postal service who, during each of the past five years, have, as the result of mental and nervous diseases, died; and the number who during the same period have received medical treatment for neurasthenia and kindred complaints?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe number of deaths as the result of diseases of the mental and nervous systems amongst sorters in the London Postal Service during the past five years was as follows:—
There are no figures available at my office. of the number of officers who have received medical treatment for neurasthenia and kindred complaints, and to collect them from the several districts would involve an expense which would not in my opinion be justified; but I will, if the hon. Member so desires, furnish him with particulars of the superannuations from these causes during the period in question.
Total Number of Sorters. Number of Deaths. 1906 … … 5,562 … … 3 1907 … … 5,612 … … 0 1908 … … 5,765 … … 4 1908 … … 5,931 … … 3 1910 … … 6,092 … … 0
Mr. MONTAGUE BARLOWasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that no reply has been given to a memorial from the Manchester branch of the United Kingdom Postal Clerks' Association, dated 19th August, 1910, on the subject of the threatened delegation of work now per- 1003W formed by postal sorting clerks and telegraphists to postmen; whether he is aware that postmen have recently been tried on work which has been done by sorting clerks and telegraphists at Manchester for upwards of twenty years; will he say whether the change is contemplated as a continuance of the present policy of the cheapening of labour, which has been systematically carried on by the present Government since the Hobhouse Committee furnished its Report; and whether, in view of the statement of the President of the Board of Trade at the Leeds Conference of the United Kingdom Postal Clerks' Association, on 20th April, 1908, that there was no desire or intention on the part of the Department to supersede sorting clerks by postmen, or to interfere with what are the proper and legitimate duties of sorting clerks, he will allay the unrest now prevalent on this subject in the Manchester post office by maintaining the present allocation of work to the various classes, thus ensuring an efficient postal service to the commercial community of Manchester and Salford?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELI have recently appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the Assistant Postmaster-General to enquire into the question of the performance by postmen of certain sorting duties, and, pending the report of that1004W committee, I have been unable to reply to the memorial referred to. I have appointed the committee not in pursuance of a policy of cheapening labour, but with the object of assigning the sorting of correspondence to the various classes on a uniform basis so far as circumstances permit. Inward preliminary sorting, on which postmen have recently been tried at Manchester, has been performed by postmen at a number of offices both in the provinces and in London for many years and in those cases has been considered proper to postmen, and capable of being carried out by that class without injury to the efficiency of the postal service.