§ MR. M'CULLOCH(for Mr. MACDONALD CAMERON) (Glasgow, St. Rollox)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether, in a Treasury Order dated 12th March 1880, granting "certain measures of relief to the redundant clerks" of the Customs, the measures of relief were subject to four specified conditions; whether one of the conditions was that, when any redundant clerks were in receipt of more than £300 per annum, every fourth vacancy on the Upper Division should not be filled up; whether the gradual reduction of the Upper Division clerkships then contemplated has been upset by the reorganizations effected since the date of the Treasury Order, so that many more Upper Division Clerkships have been dropped than those provided for in the Treasury stipulations, whereby the prospects of the redundant clerks have been seriously injured; and, whether, by way of compensation, the maximum salary of the redundant clerks could not be raised to that of Upper Division clerks, without entailing extra cost upon the Exchequer for several years to come, if it would do so at all?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HENRY H. FOWLER) (Wolverhampton, E.)The Treasury Order of March 12, 1880, granting certain measures of relief was subject to four conditions. One of these conditions was that every fourth vacancy in the Upper Division should not be filled up so long as any redundant clerk was in receipt 491 of more than £300 a-year. The gradual reduction of the Upper Division clerkships then contemplated has been upset by the re-organizations effected since the date of the Treasury Order; but this gradual reduction of the Upper Division clerkships has been accompanied by a gradual reduction in the number of the redundant clerks who had the prospect of promotion to them, so that the proportions of the two classes are as nearly as possible the same as they were in 1880. The prospects of the redundant clerks are thus, apparently, the same as in 1880; but, practically, they are not as favourable, because the proportion in the redundant class should be smaller, owing to the promotions made since 1880, and because, in the reductions made in the Upper Division, the older men have been selected for retirement. The result is that the ages of the men in the two classes are now practically much the same, and the prospect of promotion is not good. There are 53 redundant clerks to be considered. If the Treasury agree to raise their maximum salary from £340 to £400, the present maximum salary of the Upper Division, the increased cost to the public would not commence till February, 1889; but no estimate could well be given of the cost, as it would depend upon the question whether men were promoted before they attained the existing maximum of £340, which at present none have reached.