§ Mr. W. GRAHAMasked the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 609W whether he is aware that recently an applicant from the Treasury has been appointed office-keeper at the Custom House, E.G., on the recommendation of the Treasury; whether, in making this appointment, the claims of men employed for many years in the Custom House were ignored; that promotion in this Department has been held up for 11 years by the appointment of a man from the Treasury; and whether, in view of the injustice to the Custom House staff and the dissatisfaction with this appointment, he will take steps to have the matter reconsidered, with a view to the promotion of Custom House officers?
§ Lord EDMUND TALBOT (Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)The recent appointment of an office keeper to the Customs and Excise Department was made by me only after I had fully considered the qualifications of the assistant office-keeper in that Department who, I may mention, is a man of considerably shorter service. I am not prepared to reconsider my decision in this matter. I am unable to agree with the implication in the question that office keeperships can only be filled from the staff of the Department in which the vacancy arises irrespective of all other circumstances.