CIVIL SERVICE PAPERS. 



CIVIL SERVICE TAPERS. I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT is tho intention, in the notion of paper* that will follow upon 

 the subject of the Civil Service, to explain as fully aa ia noccs- 

 r all practical purposes, not only what tho Civil Service 

 i*, hut how to got into it. The various branched of tho service 

 will Ko pointed out, their relative importance will be explained, 

 and tho most accurate information will bo given as to open 

 ti lions, tho moans of obtaining nominations whore re- 

 "inin-il, as to tho examinations to bo passed, as to tho salaries 

 }, r ivi'ii, and as to tho nature of the duties which devolve upon 

 successful candidates after admission into tho service. The 

 aim and object of thin series of papers is to enable those who 

 have not other moans of knowing, to ascertain for themselves 

 what the conditions of service are, and to put them in tho way 

 of working up to the standard of educational requirements, 

 without being necessarily driven to employ expensive assistance ; 

 and to place in tho hands of tho thousands who draw the 

 moans of self-education from tho POPULAR EDUCATOR, the 

 further means of turning their education to account in an 

 honourable and useful way. 



The Civil Service is the office-staff of the country. Over 

 every important department of State ia placed a minister of 

 the Crown, responsible to Parliament, and changing with the 

 Government ; but, for the purposes of actual administration, 

 there ore under each minister a number of sub-departments which 

 are charged with the execution of details, with carrying out tho 

 orders of tho minister, and with the performance of all business 

 naturally pertaining to his branch of government. Thus, the 

 War Office, with its snb-departmenta, is charged with the 

 transaction of all business pertaining to the army, the Admiralty 

 with all naval matters, tho Treasury with all affairs relating to 

 tho public income and expenditure. These offices are manned 

 by persons on what ia called the establishment, which includes 

 both the directors and the doers of departmental business, the 

 secretaries, heads of departments, and the clerks, assistants, 

 and writers. The aggregate of these "establishments" is the 

 Civil Service. 



How does one get into it ? At one time the process was per- 

 fectly easy for those who possessed influence enough to get 

 nominations. Nomination carried with it the appointment ; 

 the idea if there was any definite idea on the subject being 

 that the minister would not nominate any one who was not 

 competent for the post. As a matter of fact, however, ministers 

 did appoint persons who were often notoriously unfit ; they 

 rarely appointed any one because of special fitness, but gave 

 nominations to their friends and those for whom their friends 

 asked, without inquiring into the qualifications of the candidates. 

 Appointments in the Civil Service were looked upon as a means 

 of repaying political adherents for service done, and as a means 

 also of providing for the needy sons of " good families " on 

 friendly relations with the minister. Whether the public aorvice 

 was helped or not was a secondary consideration, and no steps 

 were taken to justify, by examination or otherwise, the nomination 

 of the minister. For some years before the Civil Service Com- 

 mission was instituted, there was a practice in some of the 

 offices by which nominees underwent a pro formA examination, 

 after admission, by the chief clerk of the department to which 

 they were accredited. But this examination was of the very 

 slenderest kind, and consisted aiore in ascertaining by whose 

 interest the candidate had come in than in finding out what 

 ideas he had, or how much or how little his education had fitted 

 him for the service. 



In tho year 1855 the principle was recognised that, in tho 

 interests of the public service, candidates for appointments 

 should be subjected to examination after receiving a nomination, 

 and not be appointed until the minister nominating should have 

 had a certificate from the examiners of the fitness of the can- 

 didates. As an expression of this principle, the Civil Service 

 Commission was issued to certain well-qualified persona, who 

 were empowered to erect educational standards of efficiency, 

 and to try all candidates by anch standards. The principle of 

 nomination waa retained, but nominees were teeted either with 

 reference to the standard only, or with reference to their relative 

 merits in a competitive examination. The Commissioners com- 

 municated with every branch of the public service, and ascer- 

 tained from heads of offices the subjects in which candidates 



for tho respective department* were required to be proficient ; 

 nut 1 hnving ascertained what was wanted, arranged examination* 

 accordingly, and the practice is now (in oases where nomina- 

 tions are given) to send with them notice to attend before the 

 Civil Service Commissioners, who arrange, as a matter of 

 oouroe, for the examination to take place. Examinations for all 

 offices in London take place in London ; for Scotland, in Edin- 

 burgh ; for Ireland, in Dublin. The office* of the Commission 

 are in Cannon Bow, Westminster. 



This mode of making presentations lasted until 1870, when 

 an Order in Council was published, throwing open to competi- 

 tion appointments in a large number of the department*. 

 After the 31st of August in that year, admission to clerkships 

 in any of the departments named in the Order could only be 

 obtained by those persons who had passed certain examination*, 

 and who possessed the requisite health, character, and other 

 qualifications stated. No personal influence was of the slightest 

 avail, and the competition waa open, limited only by the con- 

 ditions we have named, to every natural-born subject of the 

 Queen. By this important Order in Council, about two-thirds 

 of the public offices in this country were removed from the 

 aphere of patronage, and offered honourable and useful careen 

 to young men of energy and ability, whatever their previous 

 position in life. It was no longer necessary to seek assistance, 

 to depend upon private friendahip or political connection, to 

 sacrifice independence in tho expectation of substantial reward 

 for subserviency. Any youth who had received a fair elementary 

 education, and would devote a couple of years to systematic 

 study, might reasonably hope to receive an appointment which 

 would afford him a progressive income, and opportunity for 

 attaining a higher and more remunerative position in the 

 service, if his abilities were commensurate. In order still 

 further to ensure that the appointments were conferred upon fit 

 persons, successfully passing the competitive examination was 

 not made an absolute passport to permanent employment, but a 

 six months' probation in the office to which the candidate was 

 appointed was established, as a test not only of the ability, but 

 also of the regular habits and other personal qualifications of 

 the young official. That period creditably passed, it might be 

 considered that the appointment was secured, except of coarse, 

 in the case of misconduct, infirmity, or other reasonable cause 

 for dismissal. 



This system of open competition applies to all the principal 

 departments, with the exception of the Foreign Office and the 

 Post Office. In the latter office, however, the clerkships in the 

 Secretary's department are thrown open to competition. In 

 what may be styled the closed, or, in official language, the 

 nomination departments, appointments can only be obtained 

 :>y personal influence with the ministerial heads of depart- 

 ments, and even when nominations are obtained a rigorous 

 examination must be passed before the nominee ia established 

 in the office. Vacancies are comparatively few, and when 

 one occurs there are many applicants for the position, each 

 racked up by private influence. In the course of these papers 

 we shall afford full particulars of the qualifications the 

 applicants must possess, and the examinations they will bo 

 called upon to pass ; but readers of the POPULAR EDUCATOR 

 must have a far greater interest in knowing what appoint- 

 ments can be obtained by ability and perseverance, and what 

 steps are to be taken to secure them. We shall, therefore, 

 at once describe the principal features of the Open Competition 

 scheme. 



As a preliminary, we may state that the appointments to be 

 competed for are divided into two classes, called respectively 

 Class I. and the " Lower Division," " the former to be filled by 

 candidates of a high order of educational attainments, the lattc-r 

 by persons of less mature age and less extended acquirements." 

 These are the words of Her Majesty's Civil Service Com- 

 missioners ; and it will be seen that the arrangement ia highly 

 advantageous to the candidate. All situations in the Civil 

 Service do not demand the same range of educational acquire- 

 ments, and inferior appointments are thus opened to persons 

 who are well qualified to perform the required duties, although 

 they might not be able to attain the level necessary to be 

 reached by those who aspire to positions requiring high educa- 

 tional qualifications. 



Public notice is given by advertisement in the principal 

 newspapers of the intention of the Civil Service Commissioners 



