§ MR. WILLIAM M'ARTHUR (Cornwall, Mid, St. Austell)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the revision of the Upper Grade, throughout the whole of the Civil Service, in accordance with the recommendation of the Royal Commission is under the consideration of the Government; whether four vacancies in the War Office, two arising from death, one from retirement, and one from the recent promotion of Mr. Englebach to a Commissioner ship of Customs, have lately been filled up; whether, previous to the transfer of Mr. Englebach to the Customs, a decision had been arrived at that his post at the War Office should be abolished, and whether in fact it has been abolished; whether four vacancies in the Statistical Department of the Customs have occurred since Jannary 1888, two arising from deaths and two from retirement, and are not yet filled up, whereby all promotion in the Office has been stopped for over two years; and what reason there is that the clerks in one Department should receive different treatment from those in another Department of the Service, before a definite decision on the question of revision has been arrived at?
§ * MR. GOSCHENThe Treasury, in their Minute of August 10 last, laid down the principles upon which they proposed to apply the recommendations of the Royal Commission with regard to the upper establishment of the Civil Service, and they are acting on those principles now. The establishment of the War Office is under the Secretary of State, and the question of the hon. Gentleman should be addressed to the Secretary of State. Pour vacancies have taken place in the Statistical Department of the Customs since January, 1888. A Departmental Committee reported in favour of reduction of the number of clerks on the upper establishment in that Department, and that recommendation tallied with the general recommendation of the Royal Commission in favour of reduction in the numbers of the upper establishment in the Service. The constitution of the Statistical Department is under the consideration of the Treasury and the Board of Customs; but if reductions of establishment are to be carried out there must undoubtedly be some stoppage in pro- 446 motions. I am not aware that there is any difference in the treatment of clerks in different Departments; neither should I be able to accept the natural deduction from the hon. Member's question, namely, that clerks in a Public Office have a vested right to promotion, although reductions in that Office may be under consideration