THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1885. CIVIL SERVICE CLASSIFICATION.

Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 2, 2 July 1885, Page 2

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1885. CIVIL SERVICE CLASSIFICATION.

The proposals contained in tho Financial Statement for the classification of the Civil Service, have not, so far, attracted any attention daring the debate in Parliament ; but outside, and especially in Civil Service circles, tfcoy have, of course, been a prominent subject, of discussion. The general opinion seems as adverse to the policy of .the Government on this point as on most others dealt with in the Statement. It is very generally felt that the inducements which it is proposed to offer will not prove sufjjeient to attract a suitable class of young officers, and that most of those who will be willing to enter a service where, the prospects are so exceedingly poor, would be the States hard bargains on any terms. It will not bo wise to reduce the Civil Service to the position the Church was once supposed to hold at Home, as tho natural profession for the fool of the family. The proposed deduction of 10 per cent., as a kind of sinking fund, in regard to all salaries, would oporate most unfairly, and prove an intolerable hardship in many cases. On this and other particulars we shall probably have a good deal more to say, if any. serious attempV.ia made to give the scheme any practical eKfect. In the moantime, there is one * particular point to ¦which we de&ire to direccSfP 60 ""' attention. The classification propt 18^ d . oes not seem to provide for or r *ke existence of ontTlarg-e class

vant» — wo mean tho professional class. It is true that Sir Julius Vooel did say that "tho Civil Service is composed of two classes of officers : the one, requiring technical knowledge of a kind not easily acquired, and a groove of mind of an essentially trained character ; the other, requiring merely the accuracy and experience of well-qualified clerks." "We do not think, however, that he intended to include engineers, surveyors, draughtsmen, &c, in the first-named class, or he would scarcely have added, as he did, these words : — "Although one may feel the difference between the two, it ia impossible to draw an arbitrary line between them, because officers of the ordinary character, who have ambition and ability, are constantly stalking into the more advanced grade." Clerks, however ambitious or able, do not develop into professional men. Tho'distinction between the two is a most marked and clear one. Most of the officers in tho Public Works and Survey Departments, and many in other branches of the Service, havo studied for, and at considerable expense acquired, a profession. It would be grossly unfair to classify them merely according to salary with ordinary clerks, whether the hatter's experienco is of a technical character or not. At present the salaries of tho various professional officers are, as a rule, lower than the salaries paid in other departments, and classes 4 and 5 of the proposed now classification — thoso commanding salaries of from £340 to £500 a year— .would really not be open to tho professional officers. They would bo composed of chief clerks and clerical heads of departments. To render any system of Civil Sorvice classification equitable and complete, special provision will have to be mado for the professional officers of the Government. Thoy cannot be classed with the merely clerical employes, and all promotion in the professional departments should certainly bo made by examination. None of the difficulties which Sir Julius Vooel sees in the way of applying this system to the ordinary branches of the Service could apply in this instance. Tho matter is one worth tho careful attention of the Treasurer, if ho has any real intention of proceeding with his scheme.