Untitled - Kyina & Talisker Cats Breeders of Russian Blues in ...

The Sad Ptight of Governrnent Caist-f HE case of rhe underpaidI cats employed in the Gor'-^ ernme nt service has beenhitting the headlines. Quitelot, in afact, was said and r'r'rittenabout them last month and for afbi'r,' brief moments thev u.'ere thesubject o[exchange. in the Houseof Commons. For over threequartersof a centur)t it wouldappear that tl're plight of thesecats has been completelr: overiookedbv humans who have beenmuch too preoccupied in securinqadvantages lor themselves andgenerallr trying to put theirtroubled lvorld to rights.Back in October last year thatadmirable newspaper, the ManrhettprGuardiar, drern the attentiorrof its readers to \\,hat was termed" the worst case of rvage discriminationin the British public service.''A Special Corre.ponderrtrevealed that certain Post Officeworkers in l,ondon r.rere reteivingweeklr wages 50 per cenl greaterthan workers doing the identicaljob in Manchester and the North.\\rhat was worse) there had beenno wage increase for either g'roupsince 1873.The workers in clueition wrrethe cats emploved bv the PostOffice who first went on the staffin l868 at a salary of4d. per u'eek.In lB73 the London rate went upto ls. 6d. per week with the rathersticky stipulation that " they shalldepend on mice for the remainderof their emoluments." There therate has remained ever since butthe N{anchester and l{ortherncats have had tci be content withthe lower rate of ls. per week.t7The Guardian points out that thervhole sordid catalogue of e','entswould have gone unsuspected bythe public had it not been for thevigour and enterprise of theEditor of a Civil Service journal,r,r,ho exposed the facts in a trenchantarticie. Knowing the capabilitiesof the cats, said the Editor,it is higlr time thev got toge[herand formed a Civil Service FelineUnion.On l8tli Nlarch in the Houseof Commons, Captain L. P. S.Orr, Conservative member forDown South, asked the AssistantPostmaster - General when theallowance payable for the maintenanceof cats in his Departmentrvas last raised ; what is the totalamount involved ; what is thenresenr -*'" rate ner r.-- cat .-.^' in NortherrrIreland : and how this comparesl'ith the rate in London.\,Ir. David Gammans (AssistantPostmaster-General) replied :There is, I am afraid, a certainamount of industrial chaos in thePost Office cat world. Allowancesvary in different places,possibly according to the allegedefficiency of the animals and otherfactors. It has proved impossibleto organise anv scheme for paymentbv results or output bonus.These servants of the State are,however. frequentiy unreiiable,capricious in their duties and1iab1e to prolonged absenteeism.Mv hon. and gallant friend hasbeen misinformed regarding thedifferences between rates for catsin Northern Ireland and otherparts of tire United Kingdom.