HC Deb 07 March 1905 vol 142 cc572-3
MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN (Kilkenny, N.)

I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that officers of Excise employed in warehouses and distilleries are allowed extra remuneration when performing duty for an absent colleague; that these officers are not employed in single stations, as many as ten or twelve being sometimes employed † See (4) Debates, cxxxi., 1164. in the same building; and whether, as these circumstances are closely analogous to those prevailing in collectors' offices, and inconvenience is caused in these offices when any of the staff are absent without a substitute, he will reconsider his former decision, and allow clerks in collectors' offices extra remuneration for extra duty performed under such circumstances.

MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN

The position of clerks in collectors' offices bears only a very qualified analogy with the position of officers employed in warehouses and distilleries. Their position, on the other hand, is absolutely parallel with that of clerks in all other public offices, and to grant them the concession asked for would involve its extension to the whole Civil Service, which I consider neither desirable nor practicable.