§ Mr. W. THORNEasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether cer- 419W tain temporary women clerks have been promoted from one Department to another in the Board of Customs and Excise since the Armistice; and on what grounds these promotions have been made, seeing that the greater part of the ex-Service men have now returned to their duties?
§ Mr. BALDWINThere have been eight such promotions since the Armistice, the last in August, 1919. They were made in the ordinary course to fill vacancies arising in the staff of temporary women clerks employed, not only to replace permanent men clerks serving with His Majesty's Forces, but also to make good the shortage of such clerks until a sufficient supply of new entrants is available through the ordinary channels.