, 1874-08-01
CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE.

Ours is not tho only country in which COM
plainta arc made concerning the civil service.
France is scarcely any better satisfied with her
public servants than ne with ours :; and yet Tho
way In which places in the civil service in
France arc filed is as different from that in
which thoy arc filed in this country US 1t Ia pos
sblo to imagine. It is urged, there as hero. TINT
tho people arc not served with anything Like tho
attention given by employees III private enter
prisoa to tue interest Of their employers, Tor
tho reason that there Is no competition between
thom, and that tho systom OF promo
ton is In itself unjust. Frenchmen
say, Just a. NO do. that tho State has not yet
discovered the socret Of obtaining from itH
functiouaries maximum Of labor Both as to
quality and to quantity. Tho interests Of busl-
moss men and their agents are, as rule, identi-
CAL This Ia not tho oa8o in the civil aeryico Of
tho country. In Trance, writer's havo gone 30
fur as TO say that the inte1ests Of the civil ser
yants of the country arc oftoner opposed than
identical with those Of. the public. The System
OF appointment Is largely ohargeablo With this
result, There arc two methods Of appointment
to rlacos In the civil service In Franco. Tho
first il by the acquisition Of tho privileges con-
forrod by a course OF study In certain inatitu-
! tions, or by q diploma. Competition ia not
necessarily excluded from this method. Tho
aocond is by tie choice ct the Executive, or Of
aomo ono who has tho right to appoint under
him.
Thore arc p1aoes which oan bo fillcl only by
persons bearing tue degree OF Bachelor Of Arts
duties arc required to hnve ppsBed through the
Polytechnic School, and to hayc had aome expo
risnee in the application Of the scicnco acquired,
such rs in the construction Of roadH and bridges,
or In mluing. The fault found with thcso can
didates Is that they aro brought up from thoir
very youth to look forward to public employ
1nent; aud public employment in Franco 1neans
employment In governing. They aro usually,
| therefore, domineeriug class, who consider
themselves born to command. Tldg Is not, how
ever, tho most serious objection found to them.
Receiving their appointment only in considora-
ton Of having passed. through certain
schools, or because they have obtain
cd degree which signiaca little, they
usually know nothing Of roal lifs, aro thor
oughly impractical, and understand foaTcely any
thug Of business. They not only know nothing
Of commercial life, but they have supreme
contompt for It, and tor tboso engaged IN H.
Bohool.trainlng alone IL no preparation 'os she
civil soryico. Tho most 1t usually accompanies
ia tn train tho memory, Tho Judgment upon
which demands arc most frequently rnado in No.
tive life ia loft entiroly undevooped. No suoh
training ia Of itHolt nutlolont TO III one to dis
o,,ar,o successfully tho duties Of poaittoa
vbiol brings ono in buatussa relations with lnon
II il found that the officers appointed by
81. r,xo,ntive s1e, 81 = rule, no botter
...n thoga who are installed into Office
dir0ct from thosr studies. They may
hayo more experience OF tho world, They
do not ~ rule, hsvo the qualifications ~hloh
tbqtr polluons dsmand. And tlls U anaTotd"