§ SIR T. ESMONDE (Dublin Co., S.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why second class officers of Excise, though they perform duties identical with those of first class officers, are restricted to a salary with a maximum of £150, whilst first class officers go on to £250; and on what grounds the Board of Inland Revenue do not acknowledge the right of an assistant or second class officer of Excise, or anyone entering the service at present, to claim salary beyond the £150 limit?
§ MR. GOSCHENThere are broad general distinctions between the duties and responsibilities of second class officers of Excise and those of first class officers, and there is naturally a corresponding distinction between the salaries attaching to these classes. The conditions of the salaries are known to all persons entering the Service. There 1911 is no right in that or any other Service to any salary on a higher scale than that laid down in the Regulations.
§ SIR T. ESMONDEI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the objections to a progressive salary for officers of Excise from the minimum of £115 to the maximum of £250; and whether an arrangement could be made whereby the salary of a second class officer would go on increasing until he was offered promotion to the rank of first class, the increment to cease in case of non-acceptance?
§ MR. GOSCHENI have frequently stated that in the interests of good discipline and for the due organisation of the Service, it is absolutely necessary to maintain the principle of classification in the Excise Service. It would not be possible to adopt the arrangement which the hon. Member suggests in the latter part of his question.