§ MR. SIDEBOTHAM (Cheshire, Hyde)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, there being only one class of Inspectors provided for under "The Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1872," there was any statutory office of Assistant Inspector; under what authority the Treasury claims to have had power to create the office of Assistant Inspector of Mines, and to invest the holders of such office with the statutory powers conferred on the office of Inspector under "The Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1872;" whether if, as alleged, an Assistant Inspector only became an Inspector by promotion, the 43rd section of "The Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1872, was complied with, inasmuch as such promotions or appointments of Inspectors were not published in The London Gazette; whether the intention of the Treasury Order of 14th June, 1859, was to meet cases in which the knowledge and ability deemed requisite for certain offices are professional and peculiar, and such as are not ordinarily to be acquired in the Civil Service; and on what grounds the Treasury refuses 644 to fulfil the terms of the Order of 14th June, 1859, in the case of Mr. Thomas Cadman, late one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Coal Mines in Monmouthshire and South Wales, and other gentlemen appointed under the Act of 1872?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTAn Assistant Inspectorship of Mines is not a statutory office. It was created by the Treasury in the exercise of their general powers, at the request of the Secretary of State. The Assistant Inspectors were to be young men attached to, and subordinate to, Inspectors. They were to have no claim to promotion to that office, but might be selected for appointment on a vacancy. They were to receive lower salaries and to be appointed at an earlier age. It does not rest with the Treasury to define the duties which the Secretary of State may assign to an Assistant Inspector. All awards under the Superannuation Acts are subject to the discretion of the Treasury, and the Treasury Order of June 14, 1859, does not, in their opinion, apply to the officers referred to in the question.
§ MR. SIDEBOTHAMI shall call attention to this matter on the Estimates.