§ MR. SNOWDEN (Blackburn)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he will explain the circumstances under which a second-class clerk, upper section (Customs), was recently promoted to the first class (Secretary's Office) over the heads of sixty-seven of his class, and a second-class clerk, upper section (Customs), was promoted to the first class (Accountant and Controller-General's Office) over the heads of thirty-six of his own class; and will he say whether the men passed over were considered unworthy of promotion.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) The Board of Customs inform me that these and similar vacancies in the upper ranks of the two departments referred to are necessarily filled by selection on account of the special duties to be performed, and the two clerks in question were selected as the most suitable for the work. Their appointment in no way prejudices the claims of the clerks not selected for advancement in their ordinary line of promotion.