In 1896 the proportion borne by the supervising officers above the rank of first class sorting clerks to the total staff of sorting clerks was 18.85 per cent., whereas the proportion borne by the officers above the rank of first class telegraphists to the total staff was 12.59 per cent. At the same time the proportion borne by the first class clerks to the total of first and second class clerks was 20.17 per cent. on the postal side of the service, and 24.64 per cent. on the telegraph side. In other words, the chances of promotion to a supervising position are much better in the postal branch than in the telegraph branch; so much so, that to an able and energetic man, the postal branch is more attractive than the telegraph branch, even though the chances of reaching a first class clerkship are somewhat better in the telegraph branch than in the postal branch. But the letter sorting clerk’s work is more irksome than the work of the telegraphist, and therefore “the telegraphists are usually reluctant, notwithstanding the better prospects of promotion, to accept work on the postal side.” For example, in the four years ending with 1896, only ten telegraphists at Birmingham had themselves transferred to the postal side, and three of those ten had themselves re-transferred to the instrument room, because the work on the postal side proved too hard for them. Again, on March 6, 1896, Mr. Harley, the postmaster at Manchester, issued the following notice: “I should like to afford an opportunity to telegraphists in this office of becoming acquainted with letter sorting duties, and, with this view, if a sufficient number of officers apply, I will arrange an evening duty of from 2 to 3 hours in the sorting office for a month in every three, such duty to form a portion of their 8 hours’ duty. About 50 officers would be required to enable me to carry this suggestion into effect, and I shall be glad if all officers who are disposed to avail themselves of this opportunity of acquiring postal knowledge will submit their names.” At the end of three weeks Mr. Harley had not had a single response, though he had in person explained to a number of “representative telegraphists the advantage which a knowledge of postal work would give them.”
The telegraphists, as a body, decline to avail themselves of the opportunities offered them to improve their chances of promotion; none the less they allege they have a grievance in the fact that their chances of promotion are not so good as are the chances of the sorting clerks. They demand that the Post Office redress their grievance, either by increasing the number of telegraph supervising officers, or by raising the salaries of the first and second class telegraphists sufficiently to compensate the telegraphists for their smaller chance of becoming supervising officers.[392]
Parliamentary Intervention
The telegraphists even try to bring pressure on the Government to stop the Post Office from forcing them to learn letter sorting. For example, in 1896, the Post Office required the telegraphists and sorters employed in the Oxford Central Post Office to work at the pleasure of the Oxford postmaster at letter sorting or at telegraphing. The Oxford telegraph clerks argued that they had contracts with the Government to work as telegraph operators, and that the Government had no right to force them either to do sorting, or to suffer transfer to some other office where the convenience of the Government would not be affected by their refusal to act as sorters. The clerks kept up their agitation for years, and in December, 1902, they induced Mr. Samuel,[393] M. P., to champion their cause in the House of Commons.[394] Mr. Samuel, in 1895 and 1900, had contested unsuccessfully South Oxfordshire. He took “First Class Honors” at Oxford, and he has published: Liberalism, Its Principles and Purposes. In 1906, Mr. Samuel became Under Home Secretary in the Campbell-Bannerman Ministry.
In June, 1904, Mr. William Jones asked the Postmaster General: “Whether he is aware that for some time past endeavors have been made to compel the telegraph staff at Oxford to perform postal duties, and that they have been informed that they would be removed compulsorily to other offices in the event of the men declining to perform those duties; and whether, in view of the declaration of previous Postmasters General, that telegraphists who had entered the service before 1896 are exempt from the performance of postal work, he will explain the reasons for his action?” Lord Stanley, Postmaster General, replied: “The telegraph work at Oxford has of late considerably fallen off [in consequence of the competition from the telephone], and there is consequently not sufficient work to keep the officers in the telegraph office fully occupied. Their services have therefore been utilized for the benefit of the Department in such manner as the exigencies of the service require. All officers of the Department are expected loyally to perform any work required of them which they are capable of undertaking; and unless some means can be found of utilizing the services of redundant telegraphists at the offices where they are at present employed, a transfer to another office is the only alternative.”[395] Mr. Jones had sat in Parliament since 1895. He is a private tutor at Oxford; has been assistant schoolmaster at Anglesey; and has served under the London School Board.[396]
Within ten days of the Jones episode, Mr. Dobbie,[397] who had just been sent to Parliament to represent Ayr Burghs, Scotland, intervened on behalf of the Glasgow Post Office clerks, who objected to being compelled to do dual duties.[398] At about the same time Mr. Henderson, who, before entering Parliament, had been a Member of the Newcastle Town Council, intervened on behalf of one Chandler, a sorting clerk and telegraphist at Middlesbrough, who had been informed that his increment would be withheld because of his ignorance of telegraphy. The Postmaster General replied: “All the circumstances of his case have already been examined more than once both by my predecessor and myself, and I am quite satisfied that he has received proper treatment.”[399]
In October, 1906, Mr. Parker, M. P., intervened on behalf of some telegraph clerks at Halifax who were being made to sort letters.[400]
The Bradford Committee on Post Office Wages, 1904, reported: “…it was pointed out that in the larger offices promotion is better on the Postal side…. This is admitted, though we understand that it is open to any telegraphists to acquire a knowledge of Postal business, and so qualify for promotion on either side. It is found that this is not done, however, as the men prefer the Telegraph work to the more irksome Postal duties.”