§ MR. WALKER (Leicestershire, Melton)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Secretary of State will, in the exercise of his general control and supervision over the conduct of the business of the Crown Agents, consider whether greater efficiency would ensue if the present system, under which appointments to the staff of the Crown Agents' Office are made by nomination and without an examination of any kind, were replaced by a system under which candidates were required to enter for a competitive examination in open competition.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. CHURCHILL, Manchester, N. W.)It is obviously desirable that appointments to Government services should be made either by competitive examination or by selection after standard ex- 658 amination. The Secretary of State will consider whether such a reform can be conveniently effected in the system of appointment to the staff of the Crown Agents' Office. But the questions connected with such a change are complex, and no decision can be taken upon them at present; and the Secretary of State must not be taken as admitting that there is any lack of efficiency.