§ MR. ALLAN. (Gateshead)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is able to give a reply to the memorandum presented last Session on behalf of the second division clerks of Her Majesty's Civil Service; and whether, before filling up all the 280 vacancies in the first division by direct appointment, the Lords of the Treasury will cause careful inquiry to be made whether there are meritorious and deserving second division clerks of over eight years' service in the Admiralty, War Office, Board of Trade, Board of Agriculture, Local Government Board, and Inland Revenue Departments, who are, under the terms of the Orders in Council, eligible for consideration for advancement in accordance with the recommendations of the Playfair and White-Ridley Commissions?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Treasury have had under consideration a series of petitions from clerks of the second division relating to their pay, prospects of promotion, and annual leave. The arguments in these petitions and in the memorandum handed to me by the honourable Member in the course of last Session included nothing 'which had not been considered and dealt with in former Minutes of the Board of Treasury; and the petitioners were so informed by a circular letter of 24th December 1898. It is not the duty of the Treasury to take the initiative with regard to the exceptional promotion of second division clerks to posts in the upper division. But whenever a second division clerk is recommended for such special promotion by the head of his department on the ground of "exceptional fitness" or "very exceptional ability, merit, and diligence"—which are the words used by the Ridley Commission—his case always receives the most careful consideration at the hands of the Treasury.