The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-11 00:00:00

that treaty had been signed—the ratifications had. not
yet been exchanged—it would be laid before the he use,
and application would be made to enable her Majesty to
fulfil the provisional engagement into which her Majesty
had entered.
Sir DE LACY EVANS wished to know whether there
were any provisions in the contract with respect to the
employment of the proceeds of the loan for military pur-
poses alone 3
Lord PALMERSTON said that arrangements would
be made between the Governments to provide that the
loan should be applied solely to the military purposes for
which it was proposed to be raised.

THE NEW POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR
NEWSPAPERS.

In reply to a question put by Mr. BASS,
Mr. WILSON stated that if the Times, or any other
newspaper, was put into the post-office without being
stamped, or having the necessary postage stamp upon it,
such publications would be charged as ordinary printed
or written papers, according to their weight. With re-
spect to newspapers the stamp upon which had been
rubbed off, they would be treated in the same manner as
letters which had the postage stamp rubbed off, and
would be charged the same as though no stamp had
been put on them. If a newspaper were stamped in the
ordinary manner, it would go through the post free of
charge, but if unstamped, it would be conveyed for a
penny stamp, provided it did not exceed in weight four
ounces.

THE CONDUCT OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL AT

VIENNA.
Mr. DISRAELI—I am anxious to put a question to
the noble lord the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
but as he is not present, I will put it to any of the mem-
bers of her Majesty's Government who may be able to
give an answer. The noble lord the other night, in the
observations which he made, informed the house of wl-Aat
occurred in her Majesty's Council upon his return :mooIL
his mission at Vienna. What I wish to know is, w'netber
the noble lord bad received her Majesty's graci'jus per-
mission to make that communication to the house ?
No reply was given to the question of the right hon.
member.

TENANTS' COMPENSATION BILL.
In answer to questions put by Mr. GROGAN,
Lord PALMERSTON stated that he would, if pos-
sible, bring on the Tenant's Compensation Bill after dis-
posing of the Scotch Education Bill, on Thursday next.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.

Mr. V. SCULLY then moved that an humble address be
presented to her Majesty, thanking her Majesty for her most
gracious order in council of the 21st day of May last, by
which certain persons were directed to examine into and
certify the quulifications of all young men proposed to be
appointed to junior situations in any department of the
civil service ; and praying that her Majesty tell! be gra-
ciously pleased to direct the examination tobe an open one,
and held in public, and that the examiners do have regard
to superior qualific:stions and merit. In bringing forward
this motion his great object was to have the examination
conducted in public on the ground of its being more effec-
tive. The hon. member having called attention to the evils
which he conceived to be inseparable from the present mode
of examination for public offices, stated several instances
which had come under his own observation iu which the
examination had not been conducted properly, owing,
as he conceived, to the absence of publicity in the
proceedings. All he proposed was, that the order in
council should be extended, and that the examinations
for introduction to the public service should be open
to all, and held, not in private, but in public.
He thought that the present system of nomination
should bo abolished, and that the abstract resolution pro-
posed by the hon. baronet the member for Hertford. and
aceepted by the house and the Government should be fairly
carried out—that merit should be tested, and rewards
secured to the deserving. The appointments obtained from
the Secretary of the Treasury by members of Parliament
had been often referred to, and he (Mr. V. Scull) would
give the hoarse the result of his experience as an applicant
for appointments for his constituents and friends. He had
obtained from the Secretary of the Treasury some five ap-
pointments of from 1001. to 1201. a-year, and he had recom-
mended young men of ability and character for thee;
ap-
pointments. What were the facts of these cases? In the
first, an examination was undergone, and the young
man was appointed to an office in the revenue, with
hard work and very little pay. In two others net ex-
amination was had, and, as he (Mr. V. Scully) thought,
the candidates wee e improperly rejected. The fourth
was rejected because be could not produce his baptismal
register ; and the fifth was rejected, very properly, be-
cause he could not spell. (Laughter.) The resolution he
proposed to the house would make it imperative that the
first appointment should be given to the best answers, that
the examination should be open to all competitors, and
that the best of the competitors should receive the ap-
pointments. He limited his proposition to first appoint-
ments, leaving future promotion to be made according to
the business habits and official fitness of the gentlemen
in
the different branches of the service. Ho thonght this
would be a step in advance, and would lead to other re-
forms. He could speak for hours on the subject if he
liked (laughter), but he would not further dilate on the
necessity of the reiolution he submitted; but he was ready
to answer all objections that might be urged in the course
of the debate. It might be said that patronage was neces-
sary for the sake of hon. members, for the sake of the Go-
vernment, and for the sake of the public themselves. This
he denied, and as an Irish member of Parliament he
could say that the value of the patronage would not pay
for the clerks which were necessary to keep up the
correspondence on those subjects. (Laughter.) But the
patronage was in the hands of the heads of departments
and they could not give it up to members of parliament.
With respect to the public, he could not imagine what
benefit they could derive from the exercise of patronage,
as it introduced a great number of inefficient individuals
to the service. He had that day told a sturdy energetic ap-
plicant for a Government appointment that he had better,
if he had a 101. note to spare, to put it into a German lot-
tery than run the chance of obtaining a Government ap-
pointment through his (Mr. V. Scully's) means. He had a
letter which he had just received from one person who had
been importuning him for two years, and who bad written
him between 50 and 60 letters, which obliged him to write
50 or 60 replies. The Dean of Hereferd gave a curious ex-
ample of the way in which constituents played with mem-
bers for places. A farmer applied to his clergyman to
know the best way to obtain a place for his son. The
clergyman told him to apply to his member—that mem-
ber who usually supported the Government. The far-
mer replied that he had had his eye to that at the
election, for he had split his votes, and given
one for the ministerial and the other for the anti-ministe-
rial candidate. (Laughter.) But seeking for places was a
waste of the time of hon. members, and a delusion upon
the public. He did not wish to derogate from the value
of the order in council, but he thought the principle should
be carried much further, and he hoped that the right hon.
member for Oxford would support the motion. It was
said that this alteration would require an act of Parlia-
ment, but he did not think so, and he was justified in that
opinion by many of the highest authorities. It might be
advisable to have an act of Parliament, but it was not ne-
cessary, as her Majesty in Council was fully competent to
carry out the reforms he had sketched to the house.
Lord GODERICH seconded the motion. He could not
think that either the declaration made on the motion of the
hon. •member for Aylesbury, or the amendment of the hon.
baronet the member for Hertford, which had been carried.
native o'clock in the morning amidst laughter, was suffi-
ciently binding on the Government, and under these cir-
cumstances he thought the hon. and learned member was
justified in moving the present resolution.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The hon.
and learned gentleman who brought this subject before the
house recommended it to our attention by stating that it is
a measure in furtherance vof administrative reform. Her
Majesty's Government are as desirous of promoting admi-
ministrative reform as either the hon. and learned member
himself or any other gentleman in this house. The question,
however, which we have
now to consider is, what is admi-
nistrative reform? Is
learned gentleman has proposed measure which the hon. and
reform? Now, air,
ender
da measure of administra-
tivethe term "administrative
reform," I conceive there are:. wo classes of measures. One
of these classes consists M an examination of all the exist-
ing departments with respect to the classification of their
subjects, with respect to the distribution of their labour,
and with respect to the number of persons employed, their
duties, qualifications, and efficiency. (Hear, hear.) On a
former discussion I had the honourofslatz to the house
that a series of investigations
helove
iriansnatietnutteol
by a succession of Governments—
by the G
/fly noble friend the Secretary of State, by the government
of Lord Derby, and by successive GovernmentsT:•v'ganeteotthe
different departments of the State—that these
tions were conducted by competent inquirers—that reports
were made in consequence of these investigations—and
hat
all the practical recommendations contained in these re-
reports have subsequently been carried into effect. The
best proof that either the present or previous Governments
could give of their zeal
in administrative reform was by
instituting detailedinquiries into the different administra-
tive departments, and by adopting all practical recommen-
dations that were made for their improvement. I challenge
any hon. member of this house to show that exertions—
and well sustained exertions—have not been made by suc-
cessive Governments for ascertaining the defects in the
different departments, and for removing those defects and
increasing their efficiency. Without dwelling upon that
class of administrative reform, I shall now proceed to the
other class of measures to which the honourable and
learned member has adverted in his s eechthose
that consist in improving the
speech—namely,
neralpcbara—ctermof the civil
service. (Hear, hear.) I need not travel over again the
e
grounds that were so clearly explained to the house by my
right hon. friend the member for the University of Oxford
on a,former occasion, or refer to the steps that were taken,
hresulting)eer.
e the
in the order of council of May las
(Hear,
t.p
That order in council was intended to improve
existing state of the civil service, subject to the general
Condition' by which it is now constituted. At present there
are separate examinations in the great majority of the de-
partments ; but the
the authority of aree examihnaetidoenpserctomndenutcst,edanudn:dtreer
not conduplan. The object of te- now before
cted acoordinagde toe at uniform and consistent
the house was to place
all
order in council
board, thet could • tin s 1 'oeulari y
1 these examinations under one
thesis, and make themindependentst arm e
e 3
con-
nected with the several departrnetits of
all
founded upon the existing coneitions•
and it was intended to establish That was a systic•ln,,
of the civil seTvi -
standard of qualification stefficientl
by its introduction a
sons introduced into the civil servile high for all new par-
the existing rules with respect so `civics, however, to
meat. The commissioners have been aptinetaednd, aar
entered upon their duties ; aria even the'
and learned
rexteinniettriettfiltils
member who introduced this motion admitsei.tii a step in
the right direction, and that to a certain e
un sat isfactoarnya aantdo.ipna ei
t,
certain the views be has formed with respect to ad
form. But be says it is an
measure—that it does not go far enough—that it gee. e,:a
certain extent in elm right direction,
the gaol he would attain—that it does not advance a sees
ficient length in the way of reform, and that it is incum-
bent upset this house, by an address to the Crown, to
set in motion the prerogative to repeal the existing
order and substitute another order founded upon a
different principle. The following are the three points
in which the system which be recommends differs
from that which is now introduced. He proposes that
the examination should be public, and conducted in
rooms to which the public at large should be -,rimitt,3,l;
and he fiefh err p ',see th tt any person may o.,'r
ezta,itiatiktu wullout being

„

a-t).

to iluj. anti 164111:-.4 geuu,,Loau'd pluu, it
would be like the election of members of Parliament, sup-
all qualifications were abolished, or, as my right
right
hoe. friend near me suggests, like the election of a Scotch
niember. (No, no.).
ur. V. BCULLY7Iio. So fot from proposing that