CO129-313 - Governor Sir Blake - 1902 [10-12] — Page 478

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