HC Deb 20 April 1914 vol 61 cc598-9W
Major ARCHER-SHEE

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that Miss E. E. Shepherd, postal clerk at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, has not yet been refunded the amount of salary due to her for the period during which she was under suspension on the charge that she had been tampering with the letters at the Post Office of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire; whether he is aware that cases of tampering with letters have taken place since this postal clerk was suspended, and if he is further aware that she has twenty-two years' service, and that a petition signed by all the leading men in Wotton-under-Edge, including three justices of the peace, five clergymen and ministers, six solicitors, the bank manager, and all the leading tradesmen of the town, many of whom have known Miss Shepherd for many years, was presented asking for an open inquiry; and whether, in view of the fact that the Post Office reinstated this postal clerk without giving a proper open inquiry as requested by the petition, he will now either cause such inquiry to be held or issue orders that this official shall be given back pay for the period during which she was under suspension, and that, in addition, the disabilities under which she is now placed with reference to the annual increment due after her long period of service shall be removed?

Mr. HOBHOUSE

I am acquainted with the circumstances of the case to which the hon. Members refers, but I am not aware that cases of tampering with letters in the post have occurred at Wotton-under-Edge since Miss Shepherd's suspension. No complaint on the subject is recollected. When my predecessor decided to reinstate Miss Shepherd in the service he made it clear that he did so as an act of grace, and not because he had any doubt as to the justice of his previous decision. He consequently declined to authorise any payment to her for the period during which she was out of the service. As regards the suggestion that an open inquiry into the case should be granted, I would refer the hon. Member to my predecessor's reply to a question in this House on the 31st July last to the effect that nothing would be gained by a public inquiry. I see no ground for taking a different view.