347 



war), no Education Office, no Local Government Board, no Post-Office, 

 no Board of Agriculture, no Scottish Office. Yet this increase of 

 the central departments in England is not due to a suppression of 

 local authorities, for these are far more numerous and more important 

 now than they were in 1832, and are more important than in any 

 other of the large countries of Europe. Each of the great depart- 

 ments is presided over by a leading politician; the chief among 

 these have seats in the Cabinet. The civil service, which is under 

 these chiefs, has for a long time been a permanent service, the mem- 

 bers of which are not dismissed except for misconduct or inefficiency. 

 A few of the highest posts are political, and change with a change 

 of government, but these are little more than forty in number. Am- 

 bassadors are members of the permanent service, and so are colonial 

 governors, though occasionally some person of special fitness is 

 brought in from outside. Every one is obliged to retire not later 

 than at sixty-five years of age and is then entitled to a pension, which 

 may, after forty years' service, be as high as two thirds of the salary 

 which was being received when the time for retirement came. Till 

 1855 posts were filled by the patronage of the head of the office, 

 which was usually exercised either by favoritism or else to win or 

 to reward political support. In 1855 a strict entrance examina- 

 tion was instituted, and in 1870 the great majority of the posts, 

 higher as well as lower, were thrown open to competition, an experi- 

 ment that had already been made with the large and highly paid 

 civil service of India. A few posts at the top and the bottom still 

 remain outside the competitive system. The former, among which, 

 of course, were embassies and governorships, may, in some cases, 

 only with the sanction of the Treasury, be filled by the appoint- 

 ment of an outsider; and in this way good men are occasionally 

 brought in where the office may contain no man specially qualified, 

 while there are also occasional jobs, which personal friendship or 

 party affiliation have prompted. The places at the bottom not 

 awarded by examination are now not numerous and receive quite 

 small salaries; they are mostly petty appointments in the customs, 

 needing nothing more than honesty and diligence. Even those are 

 a vexation to members of Parliament to whom their constituents 

 apply for recommendations, and there is a general wish to take them 

 altogether out of the sphere of political patronage, as postmaster- 

 ships recently have been taken out. In one or two offices there 

 still exists a system of what is called limited competition, i. c., the 

 candidate must be nominated by the head of the department and 

 a competitive examination is held to select the best men from among 



the nominees. This prevails in the F - O . It is not hard 



to obtain a nomination, and the nomination is deemed to afford 

 some guarantee that the candidate is in the position of a gentleman 



