The San Francisco call., 1906-09-16

II ONDON, Sept. John Bull is
indulging in one of his periodic
! outbursts of wrath and right
eous indignation over the way
things are managed-or rather mis-
managed-for him. This time the
cause of 1t is the report of the royal
commission on the South African war
stores. The Commissioners estimate
the total preventable loss due to what
they characterize as 'inexcusable care
lessness" and extraordinary inapti-
tude" as lying somewhere between
quarters of million and a mil
lion and a quarter"-that is. between
s3,75o,ooo and s6,25o,o0o. Lying" is
distinctly good. The .vagueness of the
estimate is significant Nobody knows
and nobody ever will know how many
millions were lost, strayed and stolen
from John Bulls pockets in the course
of the sales and purchases of war
twenty-five months after the conclu-
sion of peace.
It is not the fighting force so much
as the civilian branch of the army that
is affected by the sweeping censure of
the commission. They find little evil
dence of actual graft-British royal
commissions never do-but it makes
little difference to the taxpayer If his
money is wasted through inefficiency.
stupidity and neglect or through
clever and unscrupulous rascality.
The disquieting feature of the re-
port. when considered in connection
with the previous exposures of other
big departments of the Government, is
the feeling created that it is not alone
the War Office, but every branch of
the civil service that stands in need of
thorough oyerhauling and reformation.
Now that Is a matter of interest to
American readers because the British
civil service is constantly held up to
them as model of ipcorruptibility
and efficiency-as something so far su-
perior to their own system that every
one who desires the publication of
American politics and the improvement
and night for its adoption.
The other day two wealthy men be-
came engaged in dispute concerning
the idleness of Government clerks.
Both were of the opinion that there
was lot of idleness among them, but
thought that overstated the
extent to which 1t prevailed. To settle
the matter it was agreed that a secret
census should be taken of clerks busy
and clerks idle in one room of each
Government department on the after
noon of one week This census was
made the subject of a wager. If more
than half of the clerks In more than
half the departments were found to be
idle A was to pay B $500, and vice
versa Each man appointed an in
speotor and they made their observa-
tions together so that there could be
no ground for disputing the accuracy
of their report
They reported that in all of the
departments, except the Customs and
the Local Government Board, more
the information cost B $500, for
which he ought to be reimbursed
out of the public funds The truth of
this story is vouched for by no less
an authority than Arnold White.
The British civil service Is founded
on the system of giving life billets to
young men who pass competitive
test of their knowledge of things for
the most part useless to them in after
life and which AFFORD hardly any in
dex whatever of their capacity to dis
charge the duties required of them.
From the outset the hours are short,
the labor light and the leisure abun-
s400 or $500 year. though he has
served no apprenticeship. and he can
look forward with confidence that his
salary will rise-nay, that it must rise
to the higher hundreds-perhaps
cross over the line to the thousands
the prime of manhood with an ex-
cellent pension. If he falls sick-or
shams sickness--he can obtain almost
unlimited sick leave II he is idle. he
can secure to himself unstinted holi-
days. Should he turn out a lazy fell
low-as he generally does, surrounded
as he is by such abundant temptations
to shirk work-or. should he prove
fool. as is not infrequent. it Is next
to impossible for him to be dislodged
from the service 1T is only by gross
insubordination or outrageous miscon-
duct that his dismissal can be brought
about.