§ Mr. PETOasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that it is rarely the case that an officer in any of the mail steamship lines reaches command before he arrives at the age of forty; whether it is a fact that this is the age limit for applicants for the post of nautical surveyor, and that all applicants for the post of nautical surveyor are required to have had command of a ship; and whether, under these circumstances, in view of the anticipated increase in the number of nautical surveyors, he will substitute for the present qualification a competitive examination for men holding masters' or extra masters' certificates, who have had a sufficient term of sea service, so as not to shut out mail steamship officers from these appointments as at present?
Mr. BUXTONThe present age limit for the post of nautical surveyor is forty-five, not forty, as stated in the question.