§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDE (Wexford, N.)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state under what authority power is conferred upon the Treasury, under Clause 18 of the Order in Council of 29th November 1898, to make an enactment of a retrospective nature extending the application of Clause 10 of the Order in Council of 15th August 1890 to a class hitherto unaffected, viz., abstractors or assistant clerks.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) No power is conferred on the Treasury by the clause which extends to all persons in the Civil Service the operation of the previous Order of both August 1890. In the case of persons not previously affected by the last-mentioned Order, the operation of the Order of 29th November 1898 was suspended for one year. The authority for both Orders was the same, namely that of the Sovereign in Council.