APPENDIX A PERSONNEL OF THE POST OFFICE

The following table gives the staff of the Department on the 1st April, 1919:—

The Audit Staff of the Posts and Telegraphs has not been included as this is under the control of the Finance Department.

Recruitment for the posts of Superintendent is effected in two ways, namely—

(1) by the selection of qualified persons not already in the service of the Department, and

(2) by the promotion of officials from the subordinate ranks of the Department.

In the former case the person selected is generally required to join as a probationary superintendent, and is not given a permanent appointment until he has shown his fitness in every respect for the position and has passed an examination in Post Office work.

Ordinarily a probationary superintendent is not allowed to act as a superintendent until he has had a practical training in postal work; that is to say, he performs the duties of a postmaster, accompanies a superintendent on tour and is given an insight into the general working of the Department in the offices of the Postmaster-General and Superintendent. There is no minimum period fixed in which a probationer, when fully qualified, must receive a permanent post. It depends on the vacancies that occur in the sanctioned cadre; but experience has shown that the period seldom exceeds two and a half years, and the average is two years and two months.

Postmasters are generally recruited from the lower ranks of the Department, such as sub-postmasters and clerks, who usually start their careers as probationers. The exceptions to this rule are the probationary postmasters, who are specially selected in order to improve the personnel in the higher appointments.