§ MR. MAURICE HEALY (Cork)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the Regulations issued to the public respecting competitive examinations in the Civil Service, which state that examinations for clerkships in the Lower Division will be held three times a year, are still in force; and, if not, when and how they were abrogated; whether he is aware that numbers of young men who, relying on the statement in question, have devoted years of their time and considerable expense with a view to qualifying for the examination, will now, owing to the fact that no examination has been held since August, 1887, and that they have, in consequence, passed the limit of age, be precluded from competing; whether there is any precedent for so prolonged an interval between examinations; and, whether in the exceptional state of things which has arisen, the limit of age will be extended for the benefit of persons circumstanced as described?
§ THE SECRETARY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.), in reply, said, that no more examinations for clerkships would take place until vacancies arose.