The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-18 00:00:00

" House or out,that does not hold up his hands
" in astonishment at it ;" and Lord MONTEAGLE,
forgetting for a moment that he is speaking of
the " civil" service, curtly denominates the
whole concern a " humbug.' Upon this occa-
sion the critics are all lAberals : no suspicion
of " old Tory favouritism " attaches to theca,. ;
and, finally, they have all had very ample official
experience. It came out, moreover, in the
course of the debate that the Report itself has
been " cooked that " where it was satisfae-
" tory it has been produced, and where not
" withheld ;" and in the end the Ministers of
the Crown were fain to repudiate their Com-
missioners, and entreat the House not to pre
judge the future measure of the Government
from the papers at present before it. But
organising the civil service, creating a profes-
sion, enlisting in the service of the Govern
ment an army of 16,000 men, essentially men
of brains, and accidentally men of principle,
is far too tempting a prospect in the eyes of a
Doctrinaire Cabinet to be readily foregone •
and we heartily wish we could share Lord
BROUGHAM'S impression that we "are not likely
" to hear much more about it."
We must, however, append a few words more
to the Report. It has already furnished us with
the confessions of two candid friends as to the
present condition of the civil service. The unam-
bitious, the indolent, the incapable, physical
debility, and mental decrepitude, have found a
home in the Government offices, and "the
" almshouse of noble poverty" is removed from
St. Cross to Downing-street. The only inex
plicable part of the business is that the
machine has not long since come to a stand-
still—that by some supernatural process our
public service is administered, perhaps, as
well as other people's, and England has some-
how managed to get governed after all. Per-
haps it is part of the national character. The
civil service is not ruined, just as the other
" service " is not beaten, when by all the rules
it ought to be. The remedy for these imagi-
nary evils is characteristic enough. The civil
service is to be organised into a select and
effective corps. Candidates are to be care-
fully selected at an early age (from seventeen
upwards) by peripatetic examiners under the
supervision of a central board. " Men holding
" an independent position and capable of corn-
" mending general confidence," assisted by
persons experienced in the education of
youth, and by others familiar with official
business, and finally headed by a Privy Coun-
cillor, are to have the manipulating of future
Sir Staffords and Sir Charleses. First, the
"age, health, and moral fitness" of the candi-
date is to be ascertained—i.e., the apothecary
is to certify that Master Thomas has been
vaccinated and had the measles ; the curate of
the parish that he has been baptised and
doesn't smoke ; and the " Privy Councillor " is
to worm Little Pickle's propensities and pec-
cadilloes vied voce out of " mamma;" at least
this is the only rational account of the pro.
posal.
Then there is to be a " competing literary
" examination." " Proficiency in history, ju-
" risprudence, political economy, modern
" languages, political and physical geography,
" and other matters (precis-writing, for in-
" stance), besides the staple of classics and
" mathematics," are to be required of young
men, " many of the first years of whose service
(the commissioners have just informed us)
" are spent in copying papers and employ-,
" merits of an almost mechanical character.
We don't know whether all this literature is in
store for future excisemen and tidewaiters ;
but the report nowhere says that it is not.
Well may Lord BROUGHAM picture the " coming
man," self-eonceited, insubordinate, and pert,
saying to his old-world, unexamined superior,
"I must not be spoken to in this way ; I have
" a certificate of merit." What pleasant juniors
the present clerks will have, if they live long
enough; and what a pleasant life will be led by
the junior himself ! Thenceforward, to the
end of his days, he is to be in a chronic state
of " examination" ; he is agreeably forewarned
that "there is no limit to the demands which
" may ultimately be made upon the abilities of
" those who, entering the offices simply as
" junior clerks, gradually rise to the highest
" posts in them." Superior situations, as we
understand the Report, may be the objects of