The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-23 00:00:00

toctatical. We cite, however, the short and

miss.oners, and at a time when great firmness in
tlie assertion of principle was needed he quitted
the post for one of no responsibility ;
and it is complained that, on important
occasions, he left the assertors cf principle
in the lurch. His own paper, on the reconstruc-
tion of the Civil Service, is one of the most feeble
of the whole set ; especially considering his large
opportunities for observation. Another of the
gentlemen chosen, Mr. EDWARD Roarinv, has
indicated hostility to that alone which ought to
be accepted as sincere and true—namely, appoint-
ments for merit from whatsoever class. Looking
to his paper in the Blue-book, we find the follow-
ing very explicit declarations :
" Side writing the above I have had an opportunity
of considering the report of Sir Stafford Northcote and
Sir Charles Trevelyan, suggesting, among other prin-
ciples of great value and importance, that first appoint-
ments to the civil service should be made by open com-
petition. Notwithstanding its ability, that report, toge-
ther with other papers advocating this principle, have
not convinced me ; it still seems to me that the ultimate
result of open competition will be a democratical civil
service side by side with an aristocratical Legislature.
Open competition must necessarily be in favour of the
more numerous class."
"The more the civil service is recruited from the lower
classes, the less it will be sought after by the higher,
until at last the aristocracy will be altogether dissociated
from the permanent civil service of the country.
" The encouragement given to education would no
doubt be great if the system were once fairly established,
and its continuance believed in ; but it will be all in
favour of the lower classes of society, and not of the
higher."
"It may be true that at present mixed multitude
is sent up, a large proportion of whom, owing to the
operation of political and personal patronage, are of an
inferior rank in society.' But it is also true that a still
larger proportion of this multitude are at present in the
higher social position, and tLat when under these pro-
portions the lower become associated with the higher,
the lower gradually acquire more or less the habits,
manners, and feelings of the higher. There is, however,
some danger that the moment these proportions are re-
versed the contrary will take place.
"It may also be true that the idle and useless are
the sort of young men,' if not commonly,' olten pro-
videdrap for in a public otfice,' and this may perha;)s be re-
-0,-,thed by the proposed arrangement, and. young men
s:
vl vi,ebsed:auircti7 class may be secured.' But the idle and
useless can easily be exc'ufled by proper system of ex-
amination. ethsteabrished on' rules wchich willwork them-
oorfditnhaersyerun of mankind, without having
The trutPl7 competition,
recourse to o and to a new and expen-
sive
the assumption statements is impugned, in-
cludingthat the
the majority of the
pyblic daces is really aris-

complete reply of Mr. JOHN MILL :----
" Another objection is, thatif appointmenta are give
to talent, the pubic offices will be filled with low peo-
ple, without the Lreeding or the feelings of 'gentlemen.
If, as this objection supposes, the sons of gentlemen
Cannot be expected t> have as much ability and instruc-
tion as the sons of low people, it would make a strong
case for social changes of a more extensive character.
If the sons of gentlemen would not, even under the
stimulus of competition, maintain themselves on an
equality of intellect and attainments with youths
of a lower rank, how much more below the mark
must they be pith their present monopoly ; and to how
much greater an extent than the friends cf the measure
allege must the efficiency of the public service be
at present sacrificed to their incompetency. And more
—if; with advantages arid opportunities so vastly supe-
rior, the youth of the higher classes have not honour
enough, or energy enough, or public spirit enough, to
make themselves as well qualified as others for the sta-
tion which they desire to maintain, they are not fit for
that station, and cannot too soon step out of it and give
place to better people. I have not this unfavourable
opinion of them—l believe that they will fairly earn
their full share of every kind of distinction, when they
are no longer able to obtain it unearned."
Mr. CHADWICK also contends that with a fair
field the aristocracy would contribute a larger
proportion to the service than their enemies may
suppose, and that it is for the interest of the
order itself that they should be put to the justifi-
cation of their positions. By them such an ap-
pointment should, indeed, be deemed an affront.
With the country ringing with, perhaps, indis-
criminate censures of aristocratical appointments,
an appointment upon such an explicit declaration
of untenable principles, may be well deemed by
the increasing associations for Administrative Re-
form, not merely an evasion, but an outrage.
The Commission itself is framed ambiguously,
so,as to retain the principle of close departmental
nominations and probations, and it is to be in-
terpreted as to intent by the appointments and
attendant circumstances. If it were intended
to adopt the larger popular principles, why should
not the changes be intrusted to Sir CHARLES
TREVELYAN, Sir STAFFORD NORTELCOTE, and others,
who have been foremost in contending for them,
and in whom the public might have confidence for
their execution?
A Return has just been laid before Parliament,
on the motion of Mr. MONCKTON 51ILNES, which
is of important significance on the subject of Ad-
ministrative Reform. It is " A return of the
subjects of examination to which persons are sub-
jected who are nominated to clerkships in public
offices." The purpose to which this return is
subservient is to show that examinations as to
competency are already in use at a number of the
Government offices, and the public may be told
that these examinations have been, or will be now,
1 revised, and that they shall be extended to all
the departments, including the Home-office, the
Foreign-office, the Colonial-office, and the Board
of Trade, where the return is "Nil." Now, it
is proper to lose no timo in apprising—not the.
House of Commons, not the Government—but
the General and Local Administrative Reform
Associations that this motion does to the very
he trt of their subject.
The plan of dewing with the offices departmen-
tally, and adopting their arrangements is repu-
diated, and competitive examinations are con-
tended for by the Accountant-General of the
Navy, and by Mr. JOHN WOOD, the Chair-
man of the Board of Inland Revenue, officers of
the -widest and longest practical experience.
The Accountant-General of the Navy, whose autho-
rity was highly extolled by Sir JAMES GRAHAM,
thus adverts to departmental examinations:—
"Unknown men of talent witness daily their inferiors
advancing before them, who may have been put into
the service through interest. and who probably passed
what is termed an examination, but such as a charity
boy would smile at.
"If a clerk is rejected, the chances are he will be re-
turned to the examiner (who is usually another clerk in
the office), having been crammed for a few weeks to pre-
pare him for another jump at the leaping-bar test, which
on this occasion is ,not unlikely to be lowered, the ex-
aminer not feeling disposed perhaps to run the risk of
ftirther rebuke or of making as enemy of some person
of consideration.
" The most feeble sons in families which have been so
fortunate as to obtain an appointment, yes, and. others
too, either mentally or physically incapacitated, enter
the service."
The Return from the Colonial-office would make
out that, although they have no examination, they
have, and have had for a number of years, what
they deem better—a year's probation. The Return
from the Foreign-office says they have adopted a
probation for six months. But in proof that
departmental probations are as illusory as the
the departmental examinations, Mr. CHADWICK
holds up the admission of the Right Hon. Sir
JAMES STEPHEN, the former Under Secretary for
the Colonies, that " the majority': of persons in
that department " possesssed only in a low degree,
and some of them only in a degree incredibly low,
either the talents or ;the habits of men of busi-
ness, or the industry, the zeal, or the knowledge
required for the effective performance of their
duties." The consequences of this was, " the not
infrequent occurrence of mistakes and oversights
so serious as to imperil interests of high national
importance." Sir JAMES also declares—" In re-
liance on much uniform, concurrent, and credible
evidence from others, and in reliance on what I
myself knew and observed. at the Board of Trade,
I believe that the state of the Colonial depart-
ment, as I have described it, is no unfair example
and illustration of the state of the other great
departments of the Government, as they existed
during my personal connection with the public
service." It is only a year ago that he scoffed at
the scheme for reforming this state of things as
an utopian notion—as, in truth, he might well do
at the audacity of a scheme which appeared to
contemplate reform from within the departments
themselves, or from within the House of Commons,
at that time.
In a small work, called " The Statesman,"
written by Mr. HENRY TAYLOR, senior clerk at
the Colonial-office, and dedicated to his then per-
manent chief, Sir JAMES STEPHEN, whom he ad-
dresses as a model statesman, the principle of com-
petitive examinations is well opened. Mr. TAYLOR
says :—"Probation should not be relied upon to the
omission of examination, nor examination to the
omission of the most sedulous care in the choice
of the candidate who shall be admitted to compete
and be examined. To require that the candi-
dates shall-be three or more simultaneously for
one vacancy is a good. device, because justice .to in-
dividuals being unhappily a much stronger motive
tvith most men than justice to the State, a greater
security is taken against un due indulgence on the
part of the examining authority when the result of
indulging one individual is an injury dOne to two
other individuals than when the result should be
only an injury done to the public service. It would
be'well that not only the competitors on the exa-
mination should be three for one probationary
appointment, but that the probationers should
also be three competing for one established and
confirmed appointment. In the case of the pro-
bationers, in truth, the need is still greater than
in that of the original candidates to have the
public claims backed up against private interests
by other and conflicting private interests."
With Sir JAMES'S own facts, ' this clear state-
ment of the principle by his colleague and fa-
vourite pupil may be presented to the chief official
champion against Administrative Reform.
The last number of the North British Review,
however, contains an article on the reform of the
Civil Service, which we earnestly commend to the
attention of the general and local committees for
the promotion of Administrative Reform, and to
all who have the matter undor practical considera-
tion, as giving the most fair and able summary
that has yet appeared pf much widely-spread evi-
dence and writing upon the subject. It thus
opens to larger view the vitally-important question
of competitive examinations :

"Let it be remembered, that it is agreed that the
fittest attainable man should in every instance be ap-
pointed to a vacant office, and that the question is now
solely as to the means of finding out the fittest attain-
able man. Now, if we suppose. an omniscient, and a!so
thoroughly just Prime Minister—a man, who, though
sitting at the centre of affairs, knew thoroughly and inti-
mately, by personal familiarity, every individualof all the
millions composing the empire; knew his faculties, his ac-
quirement, his failings ;and also was rosolvedaud able to act
with strict impartiality—there would be no difficulty.
The problem of the right inc,n in the right place would be
solved at once ; it woul,i be a mere question of coach
hire. Such a made of solution being purely ideal, how-
ever, we must be content with the best possible approxi-
mation we can make to it. Now what is that Approxi.