242 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



justified the step, for the political annals of those days can be read 

 with complacency. The twelfth Parliament of Victoria, which 

 embraced the period from July, 1883, to December, 1885, was de- 

 voted to business with a zeal and assiduity to which members had 

 long been unaccustomed. The firm hand of a capable leader was 

 in evidence, and though a large portion of the Premier's time was 

 devoted to dealing with the growing topic of federation, and im- 

 portant questions in which the co-operation of the other Colonies 

 was sought, he was yet able to impress the authority of Parliament 

 on several measures of moment which had been foreshadowed in 

 his election address. The Opposition during 1883-84 was never 

 strong enough to materially hinder business, though it occasionally 

 made efforts to retard those measures which deprived members of 

 the political patronage they had long enjoyed in appointing servants 

 of the Crown. 



The two important measures which Mr. Service introduced 

 for blocking this avenue to corruption were the Public Service Act 

 and the Eailway Management Act. They were of distinct benefit 

 from the twofold aspect of discipline and economy. The Civil Ser- 

 vice and the Eailway Service were alike overmanned. What was 

 worse, they were largely congested by inefficiency, and were rapidly 

 becoming close preserves for members of Parliament, their friends 

 and supporters. Under the Public Service Act of 1862 all sorts of 

 unfit hangers-on had been foisted, under the guise of supernumer- 

 aries, into positions of emolument that were virtually permanent. 

 This was stopped. The new Act decreed that, excepting in the pro- 

 fessional branches, the Civil Service could in future only be entered 

 at the foot of the ladder, by passing a competitive examination and 

 thereafter awaiting a vacancy. The examination was fairly good, 

 but by no means a severe one, a sort of half-way house between 

 a State school certificate and the University matriculation. A per- 

 manent Board of three Commissioners, specially exempted from 

 political influence, had to classify the work of all the departments, 

 assess its value, and see that when matters were once adjusted there 

 should be approximately uniform pay for the same work through- 

 out the colony. The scale of remuneration was fixed by com- 

 mencing age, but promotion was to depend on seniority and merit 



