The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-30 00:00:00

606 statesmanship; and we should lament to think that it was a mere topic for polemical politi cians upon which they might wage their wordy war. In its present mode of treatment Adminis trative Reform has two aides. We hear an out cry:, against " the aristot ," vague, hollow, ant unfounded, the mere hois railing a shallb understandings and ijill 1 tongues. Cant of that kind is beneath the consideration of men of sense. But ot'a very different character is the tone of thought ardetiggt those Mil) care. fully examine the aspects of our social civilisa tion, and who ponder over the possible eventualities of the coming age. The improve ment and elevation of the Civil Service to their apprehensions are objects most desirable in themselves, and within the scope of prac tical statesmanship. They are, also, purposes well worthy of calling forth the patriotic ardour of every sound Conservative in Eng land. Before examining the best means of coming at a satisfactory solution of this great ques tion of reform of the Civil Service it is well to have a distinct perception of the ends to be attained. The definite objects of Ad miuistrative Reform should be twofold: firstly, to consolidate offices and simplify their duties by proceeding by sure steps so as to avoid confusion; and, secondly, to raise the status of members of the Civil Service by throwing open to tried talents the highest posts in their departments. Means should be devised to make promotion more rapid, and opportunities for distinction should be afforded by some kind of publicity being given to the work of each individual. To attain those ends there must be a thorough and complete change in our present Civil Service. It must be altered also upon English principles, and with regard to the peculiar localities of officials working under a constitutional monarchy. A civil servant having to deal with a free public is in a very different position from an official of equal grade working under a despotism. An elastic and accommodating character is demanded from the official mind iu England which is not required, and would be useless, in the positive routine of continental despotisms. Up to a certain point the English official has to pursue a routine of office not very dissimilar from the Government employi of foreign ser vice. Orders must be obeyed, heads of de partments consulted, and all the secondary official virtues of temper, punctuality, in dustry, &a., be speedily exhibited. But beyond that point everything is changed. An English subordinate is oftener called upon, if equal to his duties, for a sagacious regard to general consequences. In every week of his life he is made to feel that, though our " Sovereign Lady the Queen " is monarch of the realm, her Majesty's immediate and direct authority is often rudely encroached upon by members of Parliament, the censors of journalism with their active pens, the spleen of !dissatisfied tax-payers, and the anomalous interposition of the public. To lament that such is the case would betray an un-English nature. It is our glory that England has been, and is, a free country. It must be our care to keep her so. The grand fact of her li berty is one of the first facts which an Ad• ministrative Reformer has to remember. This brings us to the consideration of a great want of the official mind in England, especially in what has been called the sub ordinate departments. Mere clerkly habits of thought have been most injudiciously fostered. Original aptitude for special labours has not been encouraged, and the valuable qualities of versatility of intellect have been as little appreciated as if they were to be confounded with the traits of volatility of character. Yet if there be one quality more desirable in an English official, it would be a versatile power for comprehending sudden emergencies, and the peculiar liabilities arising from them. To know when it is right to obey routine, and when to depart from it, is of the first con affairs. Some men f perception by a )thers it can be 'or want of it our often grievously ,wo most pressing generation—in the SSA tid :4111 aideration in conducting all .111/bMpi., -oundnese of iii .. •c e- • •. , . et; in 01 r7,,, ; : - . • !ined. Fo 1 .. .:0,11• .4 Vl,l; 4i v ben ne the .1 • , tog4i 4 lid present g THE PRE gB3. Irish famine and the expedition to the Crimea— the Civil Service, with abundant zeal, did not exhibit that aptitude for mastering new situa tions which nAdit rooked for from the officials of the energetic people in Eue. It la (viol*, the tip, that an inter reform the phil ivice is required not pnly b lings of the few, but from ne,cestiities e Executive. On t 4 refo Which cdttie " within," we despilt under the present Mirtliptry I and of the reforms which come "from without," the new Society at Drury Lane has not as yet been prolific. We believe that Administrative Reform so earnestly slemanded, and so urgently required, must be devised by practical statesmanship. The Association has not as yet made a solitary practical suggestion of its own. It has only echoed clamour, and adopted the hints of journalists. But it would be unfair to taunt the Society with not having a plan fit for dis cussion. The difficulties of the case are really so complex that it requires great zeal and long familiarity with the conditions of political life in England to establish the principles and arrange the details of measures equal to the wants of the occasion. It is useless to blink the fact that the reform wanted must mainly depend for its efficiency on the vigour and statesmanlike views of the leading politician, whose position and abilities will authorise his taking the whole subject in hand, as Mr. BURKE did with " Economical Reform," after the American war. In saying so much we by no means disapprove of competent persons laying their views before Parliament and the public. All sound plans have a right to fair examination and candid discussion. But on such a question Abbe SIEYES and his pig3on holes must not be forgotten. We conclude for the present by iterating the expression of our own belief that consolida tion of offices and simplification of duties must be one of the leading points to which the Official Reformer must direct his attention. That by itself is one leading object for con sideration as between the State and the Civil Service collectively. Then, as to the relations between the Civil Seirvice and the individuals who compose it, we believe that a brighter career must be opened up to proved abilities ; that the status of the class of civil servants must be raised; that promotion must be more rapid, in order to compete effectually with commercial life and its prizes ; and, lastly, that opportunities for personal distinction must be afforded by publicity being given to the toils of each individual. We attach great importance to all of these considerations, espe cially the last. On each of them we shall speak in detail on future occasions. We sin cerely believe that the subject is of the highest practical importance ; and we rejoice to observe the profound thought and marked originality of the views upon this great question enunciated by the Conservative Leader in the House of Commons. THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN INDIA. IN the remarks which we published some time ago regarding the new Five per Cent. loan for India we anticipated the position in which the Government there would find itself in volved by its injudicious tamperings with the public credit. We showed that its late finan cial operations were of a kind to destroy all public confidence, and that the result would be an extreme difficulty in raising money for the public service there on any reasonable terms whatever. What we then predicted has taken place exactly. The persons who ordi narily embark in these loans have been so dissatisfied with the proceedings of the Go vernment that they have for the most part suspended all further dealings with it ; and to meet the outcry against it the Government has published the grounds on which it rests its defence. These, so far from proving satisfactory, have only more deeply involved it, by showing the present embarrassed state of the Indian finances; proving, as they do, that the loan which it called " the Public Works Loan " is really issued to meet an SATURDAY, enormous deficit in the land and opium revenue of India. The upshot of all this is that its credit has become so damaged that only four hirridred thotlintfid rounds have been subscribed for out of the two millions and a half roguired, and theie seems no alternative left, in the opinion Of inost eople, but a Six per Cent. tban, or an it pli on to Parliament for asisistaiice. Openi g a X per Cent. loan, laowet r, *Old only iUM e financial crisis t by fur er destroying iiiihlle confidence in the i mi resour 9f India. There can be little doubt, therefore, that an application to the House of Commons will eventually become necessary, and that next session, if not this, it will have to take steps to supply the financial deficit and restore the financial equilibrium of India. With our own enormous present outgoings to meet, in addition to loans to Sardinia and guarantees to Turkey, it may be very hard to have to sulimit to further taxes to supply deficits in India. But we cannot throw off India without descending from the highest to the lowest position in the scale of nations. The maintenance of her credit is thus a neces sity of our own existence ; and if we have been content blindly to commit her revenues to an irrespcnsible clique in Leadenhall-street to do as they like with, why of course the nation, like the creditors of a late celebrated banking firm, must be content to bear with the conse quences of its confidence or its folly. It knows perfectly well that the Directors are few of them wealthy men, and that they have avowedly sought the dike for the opportunity of enriching themselves and their families which it affords. It knows that the only stake they possess in India or in its revenues is a thousand pounds stock a piece, which might . be lost without any great injury to them to morrow. It knows that the interest of this stock is guaranteed by Parliument as long as there remains a farthing in India to collect or borrow ; and that whether the affairs of that. empire be flourishing, or whether it be on the verge of bankruptcy, a uniform interest of ten and a half per cent. per annum on their capital stock will he equally paid to the Directors. The nation knows that the Direc tors have thus nothing personally to gain from economy, and can suffer no diminution in their dividends from the most wanton pro fusion ; it must not, therefore, be surprised that they should prefer the latter course, the more especially as the principal recipients of this expenditure are the relatives and nomi nees of the Directors themselves. To suppose that a Direction so constituted would carefully husband the millions intrusted to them would be to suppose them to be above the ordinary temptations or weaknesses of human nature; but to what extent they have really trifled with the revenues left to their disposal will never be accurately known till their affairs shall be submitted to a searching Parliamentary in vestigation. We have ourselves some know• ledge of what constitutes the item of " assets in Indian accounts, and we do not hesitate to say that it would somewhat astonish the matter-of-fact members of the House of Commons to see of what the millions set down to credit under this head are made up. Under these circumstances it is very clear that however anxious a certain party in Par liament may be to shirk the subject, the Indian difficulty is one that must sooner or later be boldly faced. Last year there was a deficit of eight hundred thousand pounds, and we then predicted that this year the deficit would be even greater. A different view was taken in the City article of the leading journal, but our own apprehensions have proved to be correct, and the present requirement of India to meet its current expenses is two millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling. Of this sum one million eight hundred odd thou sand are necessary to meet the deficit for the past year in the two items of land and opium revenue alone ; and every one who knows any thing of the matter must know that any pro spects of these items being more productive under the present system in future years is hopeless. There is, to be sure, one plan by which the land revenue might eventually be raised to at least three times its pi istine figure, but it would involve a total change in the present system of collection, and the 1 i