§ MR. BENETT-STANFORD, who had given Notice of his intention to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Questions as to the appointment of Colonel Wellesley to be First Secre- 1715 tary of Embassy at Vienna, said, that in consequence of a letter he had just received from the hon. Gentleman, stating that he was too poorly to be in the House, he would put those Questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERI am perfectly prepared to answer the Questions now.
§ MR. BENETT-STANFORDasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that Colonel Wellesley, an officer of the Coldstream Guards, has been appointed First Secretary of Embassy at Vienna over the heads of 95 diplomatic servants of the Crown, many of whom are well tried public servants, who have served their Country in different quarters of the globe for many years; whether he is the same Colonel Wellesley who was referred to in a Debate of July 9th last Session as having been placed over the heads of 900 Majors of the Army, many of whom had seen varied and active service, while he had never been employed out of England; whether he is the same Colonel Wellesley who had personal differences with the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia last year, while employed as Military Attaché to the Russian Army in Roumania; and, supposing this to be the case, whether he can give any explanation of the appointment?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, I very much regret that my hon. Friend the Under Secretary is confined to his house by indisposition today. He has sent me this communication—
Colonel Wellesley has held a diplomatic appointment for several years, in the discharge of which he has, in the judgment of Her Majesty's Government, displayed remarkable skill and tact. He appeared to them to be better qualified for the duties of the secretaryship at the Court in question than any other person at their disposal, and for that reason he was appointed. Promotion in the diplomatic service is not bound, as the hon. Gentleman appears to imagine, by any strict rule of seniority. The following is from one of the rules made by Lord Granville in 1873, in accordance with the recommendation of the House of Commons' Committee of 1871:—'Rule 18 of Regulations for Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service.—Generally, in regard to all promotions whatever in the Diplomatic Service the Secretary of State will not be restricted by claims founded on seniority of membership of the profession from making any such selection as, on his own responsibility, he may deem right.'
§ MR. BENETT-STANFORDAfter the unsatisfactory answer I have received, I beg to give Notice that I will take the earliest opportunity of bringing this appointment before the House.