CIVIL LIST 



CIVIL SERVICE 



271 



however, provided for by an annual vote of the 

 House of Commons, and the interest of the national 

 ill-Li was never charged against the civil list. Dur- 

 ing Queen Anne's reign matters remained nearly 

 on tln-ir fnrin. -r footing; the civil list remaining at 

 7<H>,000, provide*! for out of the excise on liquors, 

 tin- new autaidy of custom** of 1098, and the l.-ui.l 

 revenue* of the crown. This wan also the amount 

 (lining the reign of George I., but on the accession 

 of George II. it was raised to 800,000; and again 

 in tin- fifty-fifth year of the reign of (ieorge III. it 

 hud to be further raised to 1,030,000. George 

 III. surrendered some portions of the hereditary 

 revenue of the crown wnich had been retained by 

 hi-, predecessors, and the annuities to members of 

 tin- royal family were now paid out of the Con- 

 -olidated Fund (q.v.) to the amount of 260,000. 

 When George Iv. succeeded to the throne, 



) ,000 of expenditure was transferred to other 

 funds, and the civil list was fixed at 850,000 

 per annum. The crown enjoyed, in addition, the 

 hereditary revenue of Scotland, amounting to 

 about 110,000, and a separate civil list was kept 

 up for Ireland of 207,000. Against these large 

 sums, however, were still placed many charges 

 which belonged to the nation rather than the 

 crown ; and it was not till the 15th November 1830 

 that Sir Henry Parnell, afterwards Lord Congleton, 

 carried a motion for the appointment of a select 

 committee for the purpose of separating the proper 

 expenses of the crown from all other charges. The 

 result of this measure was the act, 1 Will. IV. c. 

 25, for the regulation of the civil list. The sum of 

 510,000 was in 1831 granted to his maiesty, and 

 exclusively devoted to the privy purse, the salaries 

 and expenses of the royal household, secret-service 

 money, and pensions. The separate list for Ireland 

 was discontinued, and the Scotch hereditary 

 revenues and other items were directed to be paid 

 into the Exchequer. The change was rather a re- 

 distribution, which enabled the country to look 

 more closely into its expenditure, than a real 

 reduction of the civil list. 



On the accession of Queen Victoria, the civil 

 list, which had long been of the nature of a 

 permanent compact between the monarch and 

 the parliament, and as such beyond the control 

 of parliament during the life of the sovereign, 

 was settled by 1 and 2 Viet. chap. 2. The Queen 

 surrendered the hereditary revenues of the crown 

 for life, in consideration of a yearly sum of 

 385,000, charged against the Consolidated Fund, 

 to be devoted solely to the support of Her Majesty's 

 household, and the honour and dignity of the crown. 

 The application of this sum was intrusted to the 

 Lords of the Treasury, who were directed to pay 

 yearly ( 1 ) to the Queen's privy purse, 60,000 ; 

 (2) salaries and expenses of the royal household, 

 231,260; (3) retiring allowances and pensions to 

 officers, &c. of the household, 44,240; (4) for royal 

 bounties, alms, and special services, 36,300: (5) 

 general expenditure of the court, 13,200. This 

 sum of 385,000 does not include the annuities of 

 40,000 per annum to the Prince, and 10,000 per 

 .annum to the Princess of Wales, nor the other 

 grants made by special acts of parliament to mem- 

 bers of the royal family. It is provided that if the 

 civil list charges in any one year shall exceed tin- 

 total sum of 400,000, an account of the particulars 

 of excess shall be laid before parliament in thirty 

 days. Besides the above sum, Her Majesty was 

 accorded the right of granting new pensions, to 

 the amount of 1200 every year, 'to persons who 

 have just claims on the royal beneficence, or who, 

 by their personal services to the crown, by the 

 performance of duties to the public, or by their 

 useful discoveries in science, and attainments in 

 literature and the arts, have merited the gracious 



consideration of their sovereign and the gratitude 

 of their country.' Thene pension* amount to 

 about 25,000 per annum, so that the gross sum 

 allotted to the civil list every year is now about 

 410,000. 



Civil Service. Under this head are classed 

 all nllirt.TH (if tin: crown who do not belong to the 

 military or naval services and are engaged in the 

 administration of the civil affairs of the state, such 

 OH the collection of the revenue, the administration 

 of law and jiiHtice, the performance of the executive 

 duties of the government, and the representation 

 of the country abroad. Originally the civil service 

 was a body small in number and personal to the 

 sovereign, but with the growth of popular control 

 over state affairs, the number of persons employed 

 under government has vastly increased, and there 

 have been many new departments called into 

 existence to carry out fresh laws. For instance, 

 the Education Department was established to ad- 

 minister the grants made by parliament in aid of 

 public education, the Poor-law Commission for the 

 administration of the Poor-laws, and the Board 

 of Trade for the purpose of carrying out new laws 

 relating to shipping and railways. Posts in the 

 civil service were originally in the gift of the min- 

 isters of the crown, and no qualifying test was 

 applied, though in some departments tests of 

 competency were applied by the authorities at 

 their sole discretion to candidates for clerkships. 

 Amongst these departments were the Admiralty, 

 the Audit Office, the Customs, the Excise, the 

 General Register Office, the National Debt Office, 

 the Ordnance Office, the Pay-office, the Post- 

 office (London), the Stationery Office, the Trea- 

 sury, and the War Office. But no examination 

 whatever took place on appointment to some of 

 the most important offices or the state, such as the 

 Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Colonial 

 Office, the Board of Trade, the Office of Works, or 

 the Office of Woods. The inadequacy of these 

 arrangements having been forcibly pointed out in 

 1853 in a report by Sir Stafford Northcote and Sir 

 Charles Trevelvan, an order in council which was 

 issued in 1855 directed that tests of fitness should be 

 insisted upon as regards all junior situations in all 

 departments of the civil service, and that such 

 tests should be applied by a separate and inde- 

 pendent board created for the express purpose. 



A Board of Commissioners was appointed, and 

 entered at once upon its duties. Some time, how- 

 ever, was required to bring under the new system 

 all the situations and employments which it was 

 intended to affect. Not the least imi>ortant of the 

 tests were directed to the proof of a candidate's 

 fitness in respect of age, health, and character. 

 The Superannuation Act, 1859, made the grant 

 of certificates by the Commissioners an essential 

 condition, in oVdinary cases, to the receipt 

 of a pension. In the earlier years of the Com- 

 mission its proceedings were almost exclusively 

 concerned with the examination of candkUktM 

 nominated singly to single posts, the only ques- 

 tion to be decided being whether the candidate 

 reached or did not reach a minimum standard of 

 competency. There was no rule providing for 

 competition either open or limited. On the other 

 hand, there was nothing to preclude competition 

 if those who had the power of appointment to any 

 situation should choose to nominate several candi- 

 dates for one vacancy, or to invite applications 

 from the public at large. The average ratio of 

 nominees to places was about three to one. But, 

 as many of the nominees failed to reach the 

 minimum standard, the proportion of competent or 

 effective candidates was lower, sometimes not more 

 than one to one, a result of course inconsistent 

 with the idea of competition. To remedy this defect 



