and must be
474
appointment • as compared with candidates
who were not originally appointed as cadets.
The efficiency of the public ser-
vice is the paramount object.
is the
If cadets have
not the special qualifications or experience
desirable in (e.g.) a postal, legal or police
officer, they must be prepared to see s ome
one preferred to them who has these advan-
tages.
In choosing such an officer, the
discretion of the Secretary of State must be
entirely unfettered.
Especially in the case of those
administrative appointments which are not
and never have been considered to belong
exclusively to the class of cadet posts, the
length of an officer's service is to be re-
garded among his other qualifications.
If an officer who is not a cadet
has been allowed to act in one of the offices
of the class to which I have just referred,
for long periods together (as in the case of
Mr