§ MR. C. TURNERsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether it is the intention of the Government to take into consideration the various Petitions presented to this House by the Customs Employés, with a view to the removal of the grievances complained of by assimilating the pay and classification of the Customs to the pay and classification of the Inland Revenue and other similar Departments of the Public Service?
MR. PEELreplied that there was no standard of pay and classification in the Public Service which could be applied to all offices indiscriminately without reference to the nature and the responsibility of the duties to be performed. The practice was to grant to each office a number of clerks and rates of pay, which were considered adequate to obtain an efficient body of servants. He thought it far better that such office should have the salaries of the clerks it required fixed with reference to its own particular requirements rather than with reference to the practice adopted in any other public Department. During the last year the officers of the Customs had memorialised the Treasury for an improvement in their condition; and while in some cases the Lords of the Treasury had not seen their way to comply with the application, in other cases they had not only added to the emoluments of the officers but accelerated their promotion, and he hoped very considerably ameliorated their position.