§ 83. Mr. SITCHasked the Minister of Labour the reason for altering the qualifying date of birth governing eligibility for admission to the examination for permanent male clerkships in his Department from on or after 2nd August, 1894, to 3,1st December, 1895; whether, seeing that this alteration makes a difference of practically two years, with the result that ex-Service men who joined His Majesty's forces in 1914 (minimum age nineteen years) are debarred from offering their services to the State in the above capacity, lie can see his way to amend the conditions to afford all such men the opportunity they seek?
§ Mr. WARDLECandidates for this examination, which is confined to ex-Service men, must be between the ages nineteen-twenty-four inclusive, i.e., they must have been born on or after the 31st December, 1894, and on or before the 30th December, 1900. Some misunderstanding appears to have arisen as to the upper limit of age, but the amended Regulations issued by the Civil Service Commissioners made the position quite clear. A man who joined the forces in 1914 at the age of nineteen is eligible to compete, provided he was not born before the 31st December, 1894. The date governing the higher limit of age cannot at this late stage be carried back from the 31st December, 1894, to the 2nd August, 1894. Nor was this earlier date ever definitely announced as the governing date for the-purpose; in question. It seems to have been quoted from a confidential circular issued in July last to divisional officers of the Employment Department, with an 1685 explicit warning that the particulars there given must be regarded merely as a preliminary indication of the lines which the scheme would probably follow.