§ MR. DIXON-HARTLAND (Middlesex, Uxbridge)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the statement contained in the Treasury Letter to the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 19th June,. 1884, with regard to the promotion of Lower Division clerks, the Treasury will endeavour, so far as is possible, to fill up vacancies in the First Division by the promotion of eligible and qualified 769 Second Division clerks, many of whom are already in receipt of £200 per annum, thus saving £130 per annum on each promotion, as compared with a direct appointment of a new clerk at an initial salary of £200 per annum?
§ MR. GOSCHENThe "Higher Division" spoken of in the Treasury Letter of 1884, referred to by the hon. Member, is a class of much greater extent than the very reduced Upper Division contemplated by the recent Royal Commission on Civil Establishments, who recommended the simple substitution of Second Division clerks for a large number of the Higher Division as it then existed, improving at the same time the pay of the Lower or Second Division. The Royal Commissioners have themselves considered the question of the promotion of Second Division clerks to the reduced Upper Division, and have expressed their opinions in the passage quoted by me in my answer to the hon. Member on June 29. In these circumstances, I cannot go beyond that answer, or give any such pledge as he desires.