1.-6 a

VII

Schedule F — continued. Post and Telegraph. Railway. Payment is made at a rato and a half for overtime at Payment for Sunday duty, as per clause 14 of th c all hours on Sundays for every purpose, and on weok- petition, is entirely at the discretion of the Department' days between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. only, when mails are and is not governed by regulation, specially authorized by the Secretary, General Post Office, to be sorted. l?ut no payment for any overtime to any officer is ma.de at a rate exceeding 3s. )>er hour. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the regulations, no person is paid more than 10s. for duty in telephone exchange on a Sunday or a holiday. No overtime allowance is mado to officers of either branch of the service unless the extra attendance exceeds twenty minutes. Attendance up to forty-five minutes counts as half an hour ; over forty-five minutes, as one hour. No overtime is payable for midnight cable Press attendance, or for the attendance of any staff specially appointed for the sorting of mails between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. No payment for overtime for services other than those provided for by regulations is allowed except in cases of extraordinary or exceptional attendance, when specially approved of by the Minister. Overtime is paid for—Sunday attendance ; attendance on departmental holiday ; for ordinary attendance in excess of forty-eight hours weekly. No person may draw any special allowance for doing any kind of work for which he is paid as for work done in overtime. In lieu of payment for overtime it is optional with the .Minister to allow an equivalent reduction of ordinary duty either immediately before or immediately after the overtime duty is performed, at the rate of an hour and a half for every hour of overtime worked on Sunday, and at the rate of an hour for an hour at all other times. Any officer |K'rforming telephone duty between midnight and 8 a.m. receives an extra payment of 10s. per week. Telephone-exchange officers performing duty between 8 p.m. and midnight on Sunday are compensated by being allowed time and a half off for the Sunday time worked.

DEPARTMENTAL REPORT. New Zealand Government Railways, Head Office, Sir,— Wellington, I2th September, 1911. With reference to the petition of Robert C. Morgan (No. 21, returned herewith), I have to report, — (1.) The Railway Officers' Institute comprises members of the First Division, but does not include the whole of such members. (2.) It may be accepted as generally correct that the purpose for which the institute was originally formed was to promote the interests of its members in any way not inconsistent with the regulations of the Department, and to discuss with the management from time to time questions affecting the welfare-of the service. The institute, however, represents only those members who are attached thereto. Members outside the venue of the institute represent their own interests to the Department direct. The Department is not in a position to verify or controvert the statement that 90 per cent, of the members of the First Division are at present members of the institute. (3.) Section G6 of the Government Railways Act, 1908 (Consolidated Statutes), enables the Governor to make regulations. (4.) The regulations at present in operation were gazetted on the 19th May, 1910, and revoked the regulations previously in operation. (5.) The Railway Department is classified under two divisions in accordance with the schedule to the Government Railways Act. The classification as existing prior to the passing of the Government Railways Act, 1907, and originally made tmder the Classification Acts of 1896 and 1901, is continued by the Act of 1908. (6.) This statement is not accurate. The mere fact that traffic has increased during the past few years cannot be accepted as an indication that the circumstances have remained unaltered, or that conditions which caused the Department to create certain positions have not altered in various localities. As a matter of fact, the alterations resulting from increased traffic have been met by corresponding alterations in connection with the staff. The contention appears to be that, quite irrespective of the change in conditions, a position once created should never be reduced by the Department ; in other words, if, owing to circumstances existing at a particular time, an officer is promoted to a position carrying £300 per annum, and the circumstances subsequently alter to such an extent as to reduce the value of that position, the Department should nevertheless leave the officer at £300 a year in the position, and if a similar position happens to be vacant at another