Chapter XXIII: Appendix: (C)

INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE SERVICE.

All candidates for appointment in the Post-Office, whether to places in the gift of the Postmaster-General, or to those in provincial towns in the gift of the respective postmasters, must pass the stipulated examination prescribed by Government, and which is conducted under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners in London.

I. Candidates for clerkships in the Secretary's Office, London, must pass an examination on the following subjects, viz.[210]:--

1. Exercise designed to test handwriting and composition.

2. Arithmetic (higher branches, including vulgar and decimal
fractions).

3. Precis.

4. A Continental language, French or German, &c.[211]

II. Candidates for general clerkships in the Metropolitan Offices are examined in[210]--

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Exercise to test orthography and composition.

3. Arithmetic (higher rules).

III. Candidates for the place of letter-carrier, &c.

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Reading manuscript.

3. Arithmetic (elementary).

All officers nominated to places in provincial offices must be examined by the postmaster, under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners, the examination-papers to be in all cases submitted to the Commissioners for inspection and judgment.

IV. For clerks, the examination consists in

1. Exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography.

2. Arithmetic.

V. For sorters, letter-carriers, and stampers:--

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Reading manuscript.

3. Arithmetic (of an easy kind).

VI. For messengers:--

1. Writing their names and addresses.

2. Reading the addresses of letters.

3. Adding a few figures together.

No person under sixteen years of age is eligible for any situation in the Post-Office.

Candidates for clerkships in London must be under twenty-four years of age but not under seventeen. The stipulated age in the country is from seventeen to twenty-eight.

No one is eligible for an appointment who has been dismissed the Civil Service.

No one is eligible who is connected, directly or indirectly, with the management of an inn or public-house.

Sorters, stampers, or railway messengers must not be under 5ft. 3in. high in their stockings.

All officers appointed to the London Office must pass a medical examination before the medical officer of the Department. A special examination after probation is required from those appointed to the travelling post-offices. In the country, candidates must provide a medical certificate to the effect that they enjoy good health.

Sorters and letter-carriers may be promoted to clerkships.

Persons of either sex are eligible for appointment in provincial offices.

Letter-carriers are provided with uniforms.

Post-office officials are assisted, at the rate of about 20 per cent. in payment of premiums for life assurance. They are also entitled to superannuation allowance, according to their length of service. Clerks in the General Post-Office are allowed a month's, and sorters, letter-carriers, &c., a fortnight's, leave of absence each year.

Clerks, sorters, &c. in the provinces are allowed leave of absence for a fortnight in each year.

Postmasters in the country and officers in the General Post-Offices must give security to the Postmaster-General for the faithful discharge of their duties, in amounts calculated according to the responsible nature of the appointment. A guarantee office[212] or two sureties are taken.

The clerks, &c. in the country offices are required to give security in the same manner to the postmasters who may have appointed them.

After the preliminary examinations have been passed successfully, each new officer, before commencing duty, is required to make a declaration before a magistrate, to the effect that he will not open, or delay, or cause or suffer to be delayed, any letter or packet to which he may have access. He is then put on _probation_ for a term of six months, after which period, if able to perform all the duties required of him, he receives a permanent appointment.

Promotion from class to class in the Post-Office is now, as a rule, regulated by seniority of service--a much more satisfactory arrangement to the whole body of officers than the system of promotion by merit which it has just superseded.

Heads of departments, postmasters, and all other officers employed in the Post-Office, are prohibited by law, under heavy penalties, from voting or interfering in elections for members of parliament.

No officer of the Post-Office can be _compelled_ to serve as mayor, sheriff, common councilman, or in any public office, either corporate or parochial; nor can he be compelled to serve as a juror or in the militia.

FOOTNOTES:

[210] This examination is for third-class clerks only. Vacancies are filled up in the first and second classes from the third without any further examination.

[211] Clerks in the Solicitor's Office are examined also in conveyancing, and in the general principles of equity and common law.

[212] A Post-Office Mutual Guarantee Fund, suggested by Mr. Banning, the postmaster of Liverpool, is in active operation in London, and deserves mention. By means of this fund many officers of the Post-Office have been relieved from the necessity of providing personal securities, or of paying yearly sums to some guarantee office. Any clerk in London who may wish to join _deposits_ the sum of 10_s._, and letter-carriers 5_s._ These deposits are invested in the name of trustees in Government securities. There are at present nearly 3,000 subscribers, with an invested capital of 900_l._ Last year there were no demands at all on the fund except payments to members leaving the service, who not only draw out their original deposits, but are entitled to receive back a proportionate amount of interest after defaults have been paid.