§ Mr. GILLasked when the practice of reserving a proportion of the appointments as postmen and porters for ex-sailors and ex-soldiers was first introduced; and whether he would state if such reservation was made at the request of the Admiralty and the War Office?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe practice of reserving half the appointments as postmen and porters for ex-soldiers and ex-sailors was first introduced in 1897 at the request of the War Office, acting on a recommendation of a Select Committee of the House of Commons.