58. EARL of RONALDSHAYasked what qualifications in addition to merit, ability, and general supervision are required for the post of junior clerk in the Customs and Excise statistical office; what is the essential difference between the duties of the junior clerks and those of the minor staff officers; whether the minor staff officers occupy the seats of the junior clerks when the latter are absent; whether the tabulators at any time perform the duties of the junior clerks; and whether there are any exceptional circumstances existing in the statistical office which would warrant a departure from the usual method of filling vacancies in the grade of junior clerks from the minor staff officers?
§ Mr. MASTERMANIt is impossible to give a detailed reply with the limits of an answer to a Parliamentary question; but, speaking generally, junior clerks are selected with reference not merely to their fitness for the duties they will immediately discharge, but also to their capacity ultimately to qualify for the higher and more responsible posts in the office. The fact 1164 that a minor staff clerk may temporarily occupy the seat of a junior clerk does not imply that he is qualified for promotion to the higher duties.