THE POSTAL CURTAILMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16920, 5 August 1918, Page 6

THE POSTAL CURTAILMENT.

PROTEST FROM CIVIC LEAGUE.

A I'ROTEji against the curtailment o( the i postal service as l«ng as there, are women I available fir the work was sent recently ; ' to the Postmaster-General by the , [ Auckland Civic League. In his reply the >! Minister stated that the Department was ■' ] employing women as fast as they could 1 ' be trained, and it had been doing so dur- • , ing the whole period of the war. The I i work was intricate, and required a long j period of training, and if a large numb" ! I of untrained women were introduced st ■ I one time the efficient services now given 'i to the public would certainly be i'J(located. The curtailment, said the Minis- • i ter. «as a moderate one. the sole object ' I being to enable women to be employ.'! •; mcr rntensively than they had been in ■ I the past. The only way in which this : ; could be done was to bung the work '< I within the hours during which women I I might be employed. j The Minister's reply was considered by ; the executive of the league, which car- ' ried a resolution expressing the opinion that the teply was inadequate, as the curtailment of the services was not a slight one. Inconvenience, it was statedvj.< felt particularly in the residential area, and the league could see no re«nn why women should not be immediately employed as letter-carriers and for clearine boxes, only a short period of training being necessary. In support of the contention that the curtailment is not slight, I ' specific cases were quoted on reliable t 1 authority. Mention was also mide o! tH i great inconvenience caused by the present 1 hours of clearance of posting-boxes in the I suburbs.