§ 9. Mr. FLAVINasked whether, having regard to the right hon. Gentleman's statement that he regarded promotion from the lower deck, with possibilities of advancement for merit to the highest rank, as a permanent and essential feature in our naval system, he will state how many commissioned ranks will be allocated to the naval writers; whether he will state 1912 the number of writers lent to ships in lieu of assistant paymasters during the manœuvres of 1912, the amount of extra pay paid to each, and the acting rank, if any, granted to these writers during the period they were so employed; and whether, in view of the shortage of assistant paymasters, he will consider the desirability of providing a sufficient number of warrant writers to be employed in sea-going ships as captains' clerks and thus release a corresponding number of assistant paymasters for pay duties, and provide a nucleus of assistant paymasters sufficient to enable officers of that rank to be given their foreign service leave?
Mr. LAMBERTIt is not intended to grant commissioned rank to naval writers. As regards the second part of the question, the number was two. No extra pay was granted, nor was acting rank given. The provision to be made in the accountant branch of the Royal Navy to meet the requirements of the Fleet is now under the consideration of the Board.