§ MR. MACDONALD (Tower Hamlets, Bow)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the impending retirement of one of the principal clerks in the Colonial Office, he will, in concert with the Secretary of State, consider the propriety of appointing a Second Division clerk to fill the vacancy caused thereby in the First Division, having regard to the fact that promotions to that Division 1146 have been made in other Departments of the Public Service?
§ MR. S. BUXTONThe Higher Division of the Civil Service referred to in the question is that described in the 56th paragraph of the Second Report of the Royal Commission on Civil Establishments. The object of establishing that branch (or, rather, of continuing it) is set forth in paragraphs 9, 10, 11, 12, and 53 of the same Report, to which I would invite attention. The Secretary of State does not intend to fill the vacancy referred to by the promotion of a Second Division clerk. In the 54th and 60th paragraphs of the same Report the Commissioners recommend open competition as the best method of selection for that branch, the object being to secure young men of liberal education for the higher posts in the Service; and, looking to the class of work required in the Colonial Office, he proposes, if the vacancy is filled up, to follow the recommendation of the Commission, and to fill it by competitive examination open to all classes of Her Majesty's subjects.