§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONAs my noble Friend the Secretary of the Admiralty can only speak once, I beg leave, before he replies, to put to him the Question of which I have given him notice, relative to the case of a young man whose 1771 name is Thomas, a clerk in Portsmouth dockyard, which is one of deep interest to the House and to all the public Departments, as affecting the principle and extent to which the system of competitive examinations for the Civil Service are to be carried. I had no acquaintance whatever with the young mail until a short time since he wrote to me, and brought his ease under my notice. I do think it one of great hardship, and I cannot help hoping that my noble Friend will reconsider the circumstances of which I complain. The case is simply this:—In 1855, Mr. Thomas was appointed a temporary clerk in the High Court of Admiralty. A few months afterwards he was moved to the dockyard at Malta, and there he became temporary clerk in the Superintendent's office. There he remained until last year. In 1861, after five years' service, he applied to be placed on the establishment as a clerk. The answer of the Admiralty was, that he would be placed on the permanent establishment if he would consent to go through a competitive examination. Very wrongly, as I think, for himself, he consented to undergo a competitive examination with three other candidates. The natural result followed. After five years' highly satisfactory public service he failed, as my noble Friend the Secretary to the Admiralty would, no doubt, himself have failed, and as I am sure I and most other Members of the House would have failed under the circumstances. After this, his case was warmly taken up last year in the most generous spirit by Admiral Codrington, who had been five years Superintendent of the dockyard at Malta, and whose warmest approbation this young man had obtained. He wrote a letter to the Admiralty, and entreated, for the sake of justice, that the young man might be placed on the establishment. Admiral Codrington received the following answer:—
Admiralty, March 3, 1868.With reference to your communication of the 16th ult., No. 36, forwarding a request from Mr. Thomas to be placed on the establishment, I am to acquaint you that Mr. Thomas, having been afforded an apportunity for obtaining an established appointment in June, 1861, on which occasion he passed anything but a satisfactory examination, and being now over the age of thirty, no prospect of being placed on the establishment can be held out to him.Thus, after two years more of exemplary service, he is reproached with the misfortune of age, which, of course, is a growing misfortune. Admiral Codrington, acting 1772 with the greatest kindness, made another strong remonstrance in these words—Malta, April 30, 1863.I feel bound, before resigning this superintendence, to solicit a reconsideration of that case. I enclose a certificate, which I felt bound to give Mr. Thomas; and, as I have had the fullest experience, extending over a period of almost five years, of this gentleman's capacity as a very efficient clerk, I would respectfully deprecate that the examination which he passed in June, 1861, should be taken as a test of his value and efficiency.I will not trouble the House with the remainder of the letter, or the strong certificate which was enclosed; but I will read the certificate of Admiral Codrington's successor, Admiral Austin, given last July—These are to certify that Mr. Henry Carleton Thomas served as extra clerk in my office from the 4th of May, 1863, when I entered on this superintendence, to this date; and I am happy to confirm the high opinion entertained of him by my predecessor. The cause of his leaving Malta yard is to take up an appointment at Portsmouth yard; and his loss to my office is a source of great regret to Mr. Innes, who conducts the duties of my office.The only other paper I shall read is one of the strongest testimonials I have seen. It is from Mr. Henry Innes, Senior clerk of the dockyard, Malta, and is dated April 30, 1863—Mr. Henry Carleton Thomas has discharged the duties of clerk in this office (temporary list), under my immediate direction, as senior clerk, for considerably over seven years. I have had the fullest opportunities of knowing his value, and appreciating his undoubted intelligence, usefulness, and zeal. From an experience in these departments, in the position of Dockyard Secretary, extending to twenty-one years, I do not know a more thoroughly useful and valuable clerk. In exigencies he has borne the responsibilities of the whole office; and he has proved to me at all times as useful as a right hand.That is as hearty a testimonial to the merits of this young man as any I have ever read, and was sent to him at the expiration of nine years of public service. It so happened that this young man, when he left Malta, succeeded a gentleman whose case came before me when I was at the Admiralty. A clerk was transferred to the Admiralty who was in the office of the Controller and the Controller asked mo to make him a permanent clerk. There was no better man in the service; but I was told he must go through the Civil Service Examination. I immediately replied I would not allow him to go; he had given a better test of efficiency than any competitive examination, having 1773 filled the office of clerk for six years with the highest honour to himself. The Civil Service Commissioners said they had no option, but I had the power of appointing him. I had no hesitation in putting aside the Commission, and I appointed that man a clerk. Two years ago, when we had a discussion on appointments to the Civil Service, I mentioned this case, and I was followed in the debate by my late lamented friend Sir George Lewis. I beg my noble Friend's attention to the passage I will read from the speech of Sir George Lewis—There were a great many temporary clerks in the War Office, and, as the result of inquiries instituted by a Committee, it was recommended that a number of these should be transferred from the temporary to the permanent branch of the establishment. That change has been recently effected in the appointments to the Accountant General's Department, and then arose the difficulty, which my right hon. Friend has just pointed out—namely, the injustice of subjecting to competitive examination clerks who, having been for some time in the public service, may be supposed to have forgotten whatever literary attainments they possessed when they left school; or, at all events, who, if their attainments when young were not very extensive, have shown by their conduct in office their fitness for the position of public servants. It appeared to me, as it did to my right hon. Friend, that there was considerable hardship in subjecting those persons to a competitive examination, and, therefore, I decided, after conferring with the Civil Service Commissioners, that such temporary clerks should be subject to a qualifying examination only if they had not previously qualified for the establishment. The Civil Service Commissioners admitted the justice of that view, and made arrangements by which they agreed to grant a certificate upon the candidates passing a qualifying examination." [3 Hansard, clxi. 372.]The case of Mr. Thomas was precisely one of those cases, and I appeal to the noble Lord to carry out the principle so clearly laid down by Sir George Lewis, and to allow this young man to be placed upon the permanent staff. He is married and has a family. His health has suffered from his long service in the climate of Malta, and I have shown the high estimation he is held in for a public servant of his class. The House will understand that the question is one of importance to this gentleman, because upon it depends his claim to superannuation when he retires. What can be urged against him? I hope we shall hear no more about his failure to pass an examination after I hare quoted the language of Sir George Lewis. Neither ought his age to be used against him. If it be put forward it is, I think, conclusively 1774 answered by the fact, that I have seen a letter signed by the Secretary of the Admiralty of that time, approving of his appointment in the dockyard at Malta. I believe that at the time Mr. Thomas was first appointed a clerk in the High Court of Admiralty he was a few months over twenty-five years of age; but that objection, if urged, is disposed of by the fact that he was appointed to the High Court of Admiralty and afterwards appointed a temporary clerk in Malta dockyard with the sanction of the Board of Admiralty. It would not now be just after a faithful service of nine years to urge that he is disqualified by that very length of service from obtaining the position which he seeks.