MR. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if it is true that Captain Lionel Lindsay, son of the present Chief Constable for Glamorganshire, has been appointed Superintendent of the Police at Merthyr Tydvil; whether the invariable practice hitherto has been to appoint the Superintendent of Police at Merthyr by promotion and seniority; and, whether he is aware that the report of the appointment of Captain Lindsay, a man of twenty-eight years of age, and having no connection with the police force of the county, over the heads of those who have spent their lives in the force has given rise to great dissatisfaction in the district?
§ * MR. STUART WORTLEYCaptain Lindsay has been appointed as a third class Superintendent. The Chief Constable states that hitherto he has been 1639 able to select Superintendents from the county force, but not always by seniority. With regard to the third paragraph, my information is to the contrary. I am told that the appointment is popular in the force, and generally approved in the district.
§ MR. DILLWYN (Swansea)May I ask whether this sort of family arrangement meets with the approval of the Government?
§ MR. T. ELLIS (Merionethshire)Has this gentleman had any experience whatever in regard to the Police Force of the county? Does he understand the Welsh language, and is there any power of revising the appointment?
§ * MR. STUART WORTLEYI believe that Capt. Lindsay has had police experience in an adjoining county, but, speaking from memory and without notice, I cannot answer the Question positively. I know that he has had considerable experience in Egypt.
§ MR. T. ELLISHow about the language?
§ * MR. STUART WORTLEYI must have notice of that Question.