National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-04
TAE BRIrI. q cIKZL sERYIoE:
IT'S RISE, PROGRESS AND PRESENT
fNnArnTaxrf,lc

The following iutereEtinx sketch OF the British
civil service contains much that may prove In
'structiys to those who are Industriously engaged
In the improvement OF that branch OF the ma
chlnery OF the United States Government. Inc
article which Is copied from EoeTy Saturday,
seems to have been prepared with much care and
circumstantIaa minateness, and states thas
the British civil service has reached It's
present form and proportion through graonAi
Drocess of DEVELOPMENT, and has undergone many
changes and notifications In recent years. Tne
regular Secretaries of State date from the time OF
Henry VIII Abou $50 two secretaries were sp-
Iooinled styled the Kings Principal Secretaries.
A third was appointed BY EDWARD 1 IN isoS out
Elizabeth had only one: and It was not TIL 1874
that second was again appointed. The title
S.Secreta-y Of state" does not occur until the end
of EIIzapeth's reIga, and the earliest instance
found is In document bearing date 1901, IN which
HurleiRh's second san, Robert Oeeil, the first earl
of salisbury Re styled t'our principal Secretary
OF state" After this thee we're occasionally ap-
pointed, but the regular number continued 20 be
two antn the period OF the union with Scotland,
when 9 third was appointed TO attend TO the AZ
fairs Of that country. This Secretariat was, how
ever, dropped In 174s, and from that time there
were again only two until ITss the eighth year OF
George Ills reign, when third was appointed
as Secretary OF State for tho Colonies. In lIsl
the once Of Colonial Tor third Secretary vas
abolished, leaving again only TWO secreIAnes'
These had long been known rs Secretary Ior tne
Northern and Secretary for the Southern Depart
ment, the Northern COMPROMISING NorSnefn Su-
rope, the Southern, Southern Europei TO when
were now added the colonies and Plantations.
But fa 1852 q new arrangement was made: the
Northern was styled the Foreign Department
and the Southern the Home Department. THIS
continued till ITpA when third secretary was ap-
poInted for the War Department In .1s0l this
secretary was made secretary also for the colonies
and this arrangement continued until about 1855,
when in consequence Of the Ortmean war, the
oface Of Secretary Of War, the holder Of which
was not Secretary Of State, was abolished, and
a new once Of Secretary Of State for War was
created.
The salary Of tho Secretaries Of State,
which was fixed at six thousand pounds
in I795 when that sum was fully equal
to ten thousand pounds now, was reduced In 1881,
the year Of the first reform bill, to i've thousand
pounds, at which Il remains.
The Foreign Once is regarded by Its members
as being 1.-THE crack ofice"-what the Guards are
to the rest of the army-aud the majority Of its
clerks arc 'thIghly connected" being younger
sons of good families, and apt to give themselves
airs which render them as unpopular with those
above as with those below them. The patronage
ofthIs Office, as OF the diplomatic and consular
services is the hands of the Secretary Of State
who, when vacancy ooeurs, nonthates such num-
Der of persons as he pleases, generally three, to
compete for the vacant post. Tho candidates are
examined by examiners appointed by the Civil
Service Commissioners. Usually, only the can
didate who gets the most marks obtains Q clerk
ship, but where young man possesses great In
tercst the second candidate also has sometimes
been selected, If the Civil Service Commissioners
have professed themselves satisfied with his At
tainments. A competent knowledge OF French
is the point particularly insisted on, and some
quaintance with another foreign language Is de-
mRnded. ..
Tho salary commences at one hundred pounds
year, and rises very slowly, eliminating event
uaIly, when probably the clerk Is between my
and sixty, in eight hundred to one thousand
pounds year. After some twenty-five years
service he may retire with tWo-thirds Of his sal
airy. and after fty years serTice-the period
which Dir. Hammond had completed-WIth PEN
sion equivalent TO his full salary. This applies
to the service generally.
The Foreign Once hours are nominally from
eleven TO FIVE but in fact they very irregu lar,
necessarily depending as they do upon the state
Of coatirsntal affairs. Sometimes the clerks have
next to nothing to do, and at other times . heavy
press Of business. There are In the Foreign
Once, besides the Secretary Of State, two Under
Secretaries aud an assIStant under Eeoretary.
The parliamentary Under Secretary receives H.
teen hundred pounds, and the permanent Under
Secretary two thousand, and Mr.. Hammond had
five hundred pounds year extra IS the manager
and distributor of the Secret Service Fund. II
the Secretary Of State Is peer, the Under Sec
rotary is a member of the House Of Commons, and
pice versa; the object being to represon-
tation of the department In each branch Of the
legislature.
A very lose union now exists between the diplo-
matte service and the Foreign Once. The Sec
rotary State is chief of both branches and some
time ago the Foreign Minister Of the day con-
ceived the happy idea Of sending Foreign Once
clerks to assist occasionally In the work Of lega-
tions. This has had q very salutary effect, BY
famiIiarizing them with other countries and en-
IaTging their knowledge Of the manners and Gus
toms of foreign nations. Again, Of late years
great use has been made OF the British attaches
at foreign Legations, by the Secretary Of State
curing them to furnish reports relative to the
trade and industries OF the countries they are re-
sident in. These reports have proved most vulu-
able, being prepared by those whose position
gives them every possible opportunity Of proour-
ing the best information.
The Home Secretary's is Q very busy and i'm
portant office, whose appointments have recently,
we believe been thrown open, with some slight
restrictions, to public competition. Its staff is on
almost the same model as the Foreign Once.
The Colonial Once also closely resembles the
Foreign OEice IN Its arrangements. The examin- |
atio1s for entrance are the hardest OF ALL but the
salaries somewhat higher, at least in the sub
ordinate clerkships, than those Of the Home or |
Foreign Once.
The Colonial Secretary appoints the governors |
of colonies, and in what are called "OroWn colo
nies' he has the patronage OF some other ofaces |
Grown colonies are those which are still governed
directly by the home government, instead OF hav-
ing, like Australia and Canada, what 10 called /
responsible government" which means . gov
ernment by their own legislatures, exactly on the
English model.
The War Of1ce is an enormous department.
whose patronage Is entirely vested In the Secre-
tary Of State for War. This department is, like |
the others We have mentioned, directly repre- |
scented in both houses Of the legislature.
The remaining anG most modern Of the Secreta-
ries of States Offices is that for India where there
is a similar parliamentary representation, but /
larger and more elaborate machinery, the Secrs-
tary of State being assisted by council composed
Of q number Of gentlemen, who are paid q salary
Of fifteen hundred pounds year, to assist him in
bis deliberations. This council Is composed OF
members who have had great experience In Indian
life, and OF few eminent commercial men, who
act as advisers to the Secretary Of State In nan-
'Isi affairs. This arrangement came into force
when, some fifteen years ago, the charter of the
East India Company expired, and the I'D ministra
lion Of that vast country was assumed by the
Drown. The Secretary OF State for India 10 on
officer Of enormous power. He can override the
lksse even Of the governor general and IS pracsi-
cally an almost absolute monarch; for Parliament
knows little and cares little about the affairs of
India, and is content, unless something very ex-
arises, TO leave the conduct Of the Of.
airs Of that empire in his hands. .a
Besides the Secretaries OF States Offices there
Ire two which are Of equal importanee-the Treas
Try and the Admiralty. In continental countries
he Secretary Of State for Foreign Affairs 10 gen.
rally the prime minister, bat, perhaps because
England is 50 commercial, the monetary depart
nent is that over which the head Of the govern
nent presides. There have, however, been g few
Exceptions to this rule since the commencement of
he reign Of George Ill, when the Gov eminent
departments assumed their present form. Thus,
n l76l, while the Duke Of Newcastle was
First Lord, the premier was Mr.. Pitt (aE I
onward Lord Chatham,l who held the Office OF I
Secretary OF State. Again in the came year
lord Butte became premier while Secretary of |
state, the duke OF Newcastle still remaining At I
he Treasury. From August, 1893, to January. Z
sos, the duke Of Grafton was First Lord, whilst
Or. Pitt IS Lord Privy Seal was again premier,
nd from February, 1905 to September Of the same
ear Lord Grenville was First Lord and Mr.. Fox J
remier as Secretary Of State.
The Minister to whom the actual superinterd. q