CIVIL SERVICE. (Hansard, 9 July 1856)

§ VISCOUNT GODERICH
said, he would now beg to move that the House resolve itself into Committee on this subject.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, that previous to the right hon. Gentleman leaving the chair, he wished to give such an explanation in reference to the question as might possibly induce his noble Friend not to proceed with his Motion for going into Committee. It would be in the recollection of the House, that at an early period of the Session his noble Friend moved a Resolution with the view of making more general the examination by open competition for admission into the civil service. A discussion took place, followed by a division, after which the question had been postponed until the present time. Since that discussion took place the system then in force had continued in operation, and a considerable additional number of examinations and appointments had taken place. He would state to the House the number of examinations and appointments since the existing system was introduced in May, 1855, up to the 30th of June in the present year. The number of candidates nominated was 2,390, and of these 1,055 were examined in London, and 693 in the provinces, making a total of 1,748 persons examined. Certificates were granted to 564 persons on the London examinations, to 445 persons on the provincial examinations, and to sixty one persons on the reports of heads of departments, making a total of 1,070 persons to whom certificates were granted. The number of certificates refused on the London examinations was 318, and on the provincial 238; making a total of 556 certificates refused against 1,070 granted. Therefore the result was as nearly as possible that two persons succeeded in obtaining 526 certificates to one who failed. That had been the practical result of the existing system up to the present time, and the House would see that it had the effect of separating the worthy from the unworthy candidates. His noble Friend proposed to carry to a still greater extent the system of open examinations, so that whenever a vacancy occurred in a public office any persons might offer themselves as candidates without any qualification beyond that which appeared on the examination, and if they happened to be the best they should be accepted. The plan at present adopted in reference to the superior departments of the Government, such as those of the Secretaries of State and the Treasury, was that, whenever a vacancy occurred, several candidates were selected by the head of the department and subjected to competitive examination to determine who was the fittest person to fill the vacancy. Now, the head of a department, though holding office by the precarious tenure of political power, therefore being only temporarily in his department, yet always had a strong interest in obtaining efficient servants for the conduct of the affairs of the department. He was, moreover, surrounded by permanent officers, who, by their advice, confirmed him in that feeling. Any gentleman acquainted with the spirit which now animated the heads of the public departments would be satisfied that, in reference to the appointment to vacancies, it would be the study of those heads to present such a number of candidates as would enable the Civil Service Commissioners to select persons fully adequate to discharge the duties they would be called on to perform. The House, therefore, would see that the system now introduced offered satisfactory securities for proper appointments. He would now take the case of those civil servants who performed functions the least responsible and important. There is a numerous body of these persons in the Customs, the Coast, the Excise, and the Post Office. The House would understand that any system of competitive literary examination was wholly unsuited to civil servants of that class. To discharge the duties of a tidewaiter, who had watch on the deck of a vessel and prevent smuggling, a man of sobriety and honesty was required, and it would be absurd for Government to require any superior qualifications. Let the House consider the ease of a letter-carrier in the country. The wages of that officer, if 527 engaged every day, amounted to 12s. or 14s. a week; and, if engaged for only three days out of the seven, his wages were not more than 6s. a week. Now, anything of an extensive competitive examination in respect to such a class of persons, with questions proposed by examiners, would have an air of ridicule attached to it, and the House must admit that such a system was not applicable to them. There was, besides, an intermediate class, and he very willingly admitted that the principle advocated by his noble Friend had great recommendations in respect to that class, comprising, as it did, many persons in the superior branch of the Revenue Department and clerks nominated by the Treasury. With respect to the Secretary to the Treasury, that officer, not being the head of the department for which his nominations were made, was not interested to the same extent as the head would be in obtaining efficient servants. Therefore that class of appointments required some additional security to that which now existed. Having communicated with the Civil Service Commissioners (Sir Edward Ryan and Mr. Shaw Lefevre), who were most excellent public officers, he could state that the result of their experience was that examination by competition, where the number examined was not considerable, did, on the whole, produce more satisfactory effects than any other kind of examination, and the candidates were more efficient in the performance of their duties. Their experience, however, was in favour of the gradual and cautious extension of the principle of appointments by competitive examination. The question, then, was by what means, and in what form, that principle should be extended? The House must see that there was a difficulty in laying down any universal rule, which would operate so that all candidates for office in the public service should be brought up to London in order to undergo a competitive examination. If the examination was merely for the purpose of ascertaining that the candidate possessed a certain prescribed set of qualifications—that he had attained a certain standard, that examination could be conducted in any part of the United Kingdom by proper arrangements. But if every appointment was to be made on the principle of competition, it would be necessary to bring every candidate to one place. They could not conduct an examination by competition in different 528 places any more than they could have a race of different horses without bringing them all to one spot. Supposing that the three capitals—London, Edinburgh, and Dublin—were selected as the places for examination, a great advantage would thereby be given to persons living in or near those cities, but a person resident in Wales or Cornwall might not be willing to incur the expense of a long journey on the uncertainty of the result of the examination in his case. The consequence would be, that under such a system, a sort of monopoly would be given to persons residing in the vicinity of the three capitals. Therefore there was considerable practical difficulty in the way of laying down any universal imperative regulations on the subject. He thought that means might be found for having examinations in different parts of the country, and for affording facilities for candidates to come forward; but he did not think it would be fair immediately to lay down any such universal regulation as would impose on all candidates for public office the necessity of coming up to any one particular place, He quite admitted, however, that experience was in favour of the principle recommended by his noble Friend, and it would be the study of the Government, by gradual moans, by feeling their way as they advanced, by avoiding those difficulties the existence of which experience might point out, to give as much extension as could with safety and propriety be done to the principle advocated by his noble Friend. He trusted that his explanation would satisfy the House that it was the sincere wish of the Government to carry into effect, and to give as much practical extension as circumstances would permit, to the principle of competitive examination for appointments in the civil service. That principle was adopted last year, and had afforded to the public the greatest amount of security for efficiency in all the branches of the civil service.

§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE
said, he would submit to the noble Lord whether it would not be desirable, after the explanation made by the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the Order of the Day for a Committee on the subject should be discharged? The position of the question was now satisfactory to those who desired to see the system of competitive examination further but cautiously extended, and it would be unwise, in his opinion, to press the matter 529 too hastily. It would be better to leave the matter in the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the understanding that the system would be carried out in the spirit indicated.

VISCOUNT GODBRICH
said, that if the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer had, on a former occasion, delivered such a speech as the one just made, he should have felt it his duty to have left the question in the hands of the Government. He felt bound, however, to say that nothing could be more gratifying than the right hon. Gentleman's speech on the present occasion. In the Address which he (Viscount Goderich) had moved on a previous occasion he took care to use terms calculated not to tie up the hands of the Government, because he felt then, as now, that they were of course far better judges on such questions than any private Member. He was most ready to thank the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the promises contained in his speech; and, though the measures Government proposed to take were not specified, yet he was glad to hear that the right hon. Gentleman adopted the principle enunciated in the Address as a sound principle, and was ready to act on it in those branches of the Civil Service to which he thought it applicable. He therefore did not propose to proceed any further with his Motion for going into Committee, especially as it would be useless to do so at the present period of the Session. He was willing, therefore, that the Order of the Day should be discharged, undertaking, however, to bring forward the subject again if he found that the Government did not act in the spirit of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech.

§ MR. TITE
said, he entirely concurred in the course taken by the noble Lord in withdrawing his Motion. He thought the principle might be carried out quite as far as the noble Lord intended when he first brought forward his Motion, but at the same time he was always ready to accept the honest and earnest promises of the Government. What they wanted to get rid of, as far as they could, was the principle of nomination. The recent examinations by the Society of Arts had shown that properly qualified persons would be obtained from various parts of the country, persons who had been educated in Mechanics' Institutes, and other humble institutions of a like character, those being persons who would probably never obtain nominations. At 530 the same time he was willing to accept the offer of the Government, and he quite agreed that any change of the kind must be carried out prudently, cautiously, and wisely.

§ MR. RICH
said, he also was willing to accept the compromise of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he looked upon it as only a step in advance towards the attainment of the ultimate end—full and free competition. The Dean of Hereford, perhaps the highest authority on national education, in discussing the advantages of open competition for public offices, said, in his pamphlet on the reorganisation of the civil service, that— If established by legislative enactment, it will do move for the advancement of education than a Parliamentary grant of many hundred thousands a year, or than any Bill for the extension of it which the country is prepared to adopt at the present time; it will do this also on the best possible grounds, by holding out motives of an honourable kind to all classes of society to educate themselves, and will show them that good character, knowledge, industry, and fitness for the discharge of official duties, in whatever rank of life, will meet with their appropriate reward. It will be the very best Education Bill which Government can bring forward. He entirely concurred in those opinions, and hoped the day was not far distant when they would be adopted.