§ MR. R. N. FOWLER (for Mr. GRANTHAM)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether his attention has been called to the position of certain junior clerks in the Education Department who entered that office at the age of fourteen, with a promise of a nomination for a permanent clerkship if they had a good character, and remained there till they were nineteen, but who were deprived of that nomination by the alterations subsequently made in the service; whether they are receiving now above £100 per annum, instead of £200 per annum, and with a rise per annum for any length of service of one-third only of what they otherwise would have received; whether the heads of the Department have recommended some compensation to be made to them; and, if the Government will now make them some compensation for the breach of the conditions on which they entered the service; and, if not, on what grounds such compensation is refused?
§ MR. COURTNEYAssuming, Sir, that the Question refers to what are called third-class assistant clerks in the Education Office, I have to say that the information furnished to the hon. and learned Gentleman is not correct; and, especially, that no promise was given to these junior clerks when their service began, and that they have, without such promise, received permanent appointments of greater value than stated. It would, however, be impossible, within the limits of an Answer to a Question, to explain the details of such a case; but I may say that it has been carefully inquired into at various dates since 1879; a substantial boon was given in 1881; and there now remains, in the 1319 opinion of the Treasury, no reasonable ground of complaint.