WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 125, 27 May 1914, Page 7

WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF ROYAL coMinssiox. i From Our Uidy Correspondent.) LOXDOX. April 17. Yet another Blue Hook has made its appearance in the world—that containing the report of the Royal Commission on Civil Service, and in a= far as it 3 recommendations concern a few women indirectly they concern us all. The work of women having proved its worth, the. report urjjes that the services of women should he secured whenever those services will best promote the public interest. In so f.ira« the character and conditions of the work performed ny women approximate to those of the work performed by men, the pay, it is urged, should be equal, ami in so far as the efficiency of men is higher, their salaries should remain higher. Special attention is drawn to the inadequate number of women inspectors in Ihe employment of the Board of Kxlncation, the Home Office, and the Local Government Board. The for the enrolling of women I clerk? is in future to he raised to IS, ! and it is advised that the examinations which women are required to pass before j selection should be restricted to women I only, and co-ordinated with the actual j conditions of feminine education. '"Cram;ming" should be discouraged. The em- | ployrrwnt of female typists should be' 'extended, and the scales of salary should j be: For typists, £1 a week, rising 'by 2/ \ a week to £1 12/ a week: shorthand- ; writer typists, HI 6/. by 2/ a week, to £•2 2/ a week. | I Belter phyeic.il conditions than those j . now obtaining, it is recommended, should ,be secured fur women typieta. ! <"oncernin:r the much discussed que-fi-I tion as to the termination of a woman's appointment.* whatever that be. on her marriage, the report ha.*: "Though by the operation of this rule the sen-ice i loses the valne. of a woman's prior training, Uμ- majority o: us regard it as ewential to maintain the existing rule intact, and, apart fmm considerations as to ihi- weifarv of tin- family (and I these must not be ignored j. believe tlrat the responsibilities oi married life are normally incompatible with tin- devotion ioi a woman's whole time and unimpaired energy t.i the pnhliu wrvii-i-." Various for promotion of women clerks are made. and. in view of the fact that 58.700 women and girls are employed in the Tost Office. 1250 in I oilier public officrs. and 1000 under the j War Office. Admiralty, and Prisons De-P'-rtm-ent I excluding the nurses belonging to the naval and military eeta-blieh-jmpTrtal. it ifl opined that provision I 'should be made for the inclusion on the ; "aff nf the new section in the Treasnry i or a woman who shall be jn a position ■ ,to advise on matters aiTectTng the nrcrantI nation of women in the srn-rice. Promotion from the typist to th» | derical does Rhenrid be mide oossible in i cases of exceptional merit. i