§ Sir RANDOLF BAKERasked the Postmaster-General how many sorting clerks and telegraphists who have been selected as suitable for employment in surveyors' offices, when opportunity arises, there are at present for whom appointments cannot be found as third-class clerks; will those for whom appointments cannot be found be struck off the list as their ages advance; or, if positions cannot be found for them as third-class clerks, is there any prospect of their getting other suitable employment in Government departments?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThere is at present a list of fifty-two sorting clerks and telegraphists who have been recommended as likely to prove suitable for the duties of clerks in surveyors' offices. Of these thirty-nine have already been given temporary employment in surveyors' offices and will, if they give satisfaction, be appointed to permanent positions as surveyors' clerks. It would be my desire to appoint the others also; but if, as may happen, it should prove impossible to appoint them within a reasonable period, it may be necessary to strike their names off the list, since it is proposed ultimately to adopt a system of competitive examination. In that case they will of course retain their existing situations in the Post Office service.