§ 27. Mr. C. DUNCANasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the acknowledged increase in the cost of living since 1896, he will review the salary scale of assistant clerks, bearing in mind the fact that the purchasing power of money has depreciated by 12 to 15 per cent., approximately, since 1896; whether, in view of the opinions which have been expressed before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service by the heads of many Government Departments, including the Treasury, that the line of demarcation between the duties of assistant clerks and second division clerks ceases now to exist in many instances and is very faint in the majority of cases, he is satisfied that the proportion between the salary scale of assistant clerks, namely, £45 to £150, and that of second division clerks, namely, £70 to £300, is commensurate with that between the duties actually discharged by these two bodies of clerks; and whether he will consider whether Clause 44 of the Order in Council, 10th January, 1910, requires some reconsideration and amendment?
§ Mr. MASTERMANI do not think I can anticipate the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service on this matter.