§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, seeing that the assistant clerks employed upon checking duties in the Customs tea and dry goods branch were specially selected from the outports to fill the places of examining officers engaged upon checking duties, with salaries rising to £340 per annum and further prospects and annual leave of thirty-two working days, and that before entering upon such duties, owing to their nature, each assistant clerk was required to enter into a bond of £100, he would he willing to consider another application from these men for an increase in the amount of their annual leave.
(Answered by Mr. Elliot.) The assistant clerks employed on checking duties in the Customs tea and dry goods branch were not specially selected to fill the places of examining officers engaged upon checking duties with salaries rising to £340 per annum. The largest portion of the work now performed by assistant clerks with checking allowances was formerly done by examining officers of the second class, who only rise to £220. In no case are they employed on work which was specially assigned to first-class examining officers, nor do they fill places formerly held by officers of that class. I see no reason to depart from the decision previously announced.