§ Mr. SNOWDENasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether Mr. V. W. Baddeley, a principal clerk at the Admiralty, has been appointed assistant secretary for finance duties; if so, whether this is an entirely new office; what experience Mr. Baddeley has had in financial matters; is the House to understand that all the superior officials of the Accountant-General of the Navy's Department were regarded as incapable of filling this new post; how long has Mr. Baddeley been in the Civil Service; and in what branch of the Admiralty has he been engaged since his appointment?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe answer to the first two questions is in the affirmative.1780W In selecting Mr. Baddeley for this new appointment, which is not in the Accountant-General's Department, all the circumstances were fully considered by my predecessor. The period of his service is fourteen years, and he has been employed both in the War Office and in the Secretary's Department of the Admiralty.
§ Mr. SNOWDENalso asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether Mr. J. H. Brooks, a principal clerk in the secretariat, has been appointed director of victualling; and, if so, has Mr. Brooks had any experience in that Department, and are the superior officers in the Victualling Department at the Admiralty and in the victualling establishments at home and abroad deemed to be incapable of holding this position?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. In regard to the second part of the question, Mr. Brooks was selected as being in the opinion of the Admiralty the best officer in the interests of the Service.