§ 99. Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTasked the Prime Minister if he is aware that there is still a class of Government appointments in connection with which it is the practice of applicants to importune Members of Parliament, who may be completely ignorant of their professional qualifications, to recommend them to the Department concerned; and, seeing that the opinion of Members of Parliament, as 1321 such, is not of the slightest assistance to Departments in determining which candidate out of a number is the best qualified, whether, in the public interest as well as for the convenience of all parties concerned, he will take effective steps to prohibit the practice?
§ The PRIME MINISTERWhile I am not prepared to take action on the subject, I think the practice referred to is one which might well be discontinued.