TAX INSPECTORS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 16

TAX INSPECTORS

NEW PROFESSION FOR WOMEN.

An optimistic writer in the London "Daily Telegraph" says: "'We are going to have women inspectors of income tax." This sounds quite well, but on further inquiry" Jnto the matter it appears as if the British Civil Service Commissioaers had fairly exhausted every subject that could possibly be brought forward for the entrance examinations. Presumably men «.nd women will take the same papers and subjects, and it remains to be seen how many living encyclopaedias exist upon earth at present. The candidates must, in the first place, be nominated by the authorities of a university to whie'h they belong, as being-, in the opinion of the authorities, suitable for the work of tax inspectors. The limits of age are from 21 to 24. Female candidates must be unmarried or widows. The-fee of £6 is required from each entrant, and—behold the subjects of the examination:—Section A: 1, Essay, maximum marks 100; 2, English, 100; 3, present day, 100; 4. everyday science, 100; s,"Viva voce, 200. Section B: 6, Business organisation, maximum marks, 100; 7, accounting, 100; 8, economics, 200; 9, banking and exchange, 100; 10, statistics, 100; 11, contracts and torts, 100; \2, law of trusts, etc., 100; 13, real and personal property, 100; 14, constitutional law. 100; 15, law of evidence, 100; 16, Roman law, 100; 17, French, 200; 18, German, 200; 19, Italian, 200; 20. Spanish. 200; 21, Russian, 200; 22, Latin; 200; 23, Ancient Greek, 200; 24, English history, 200; 25, European history, 200: 26, industrial history, 100; 27, lower mathematics, 200; 28, higher mathematics, 200; 29, geography, 200: 30, physics, 200; 31, chemistry, '200; 32, botany, 200; 33, geology,'2oo. In Section A candidates take all subjects; in Section B the candidate may offer subjects up to a maximum mark of 600, provided that not more than four of the subjects numbered 11 to 16, or more than; two of the subjects numbered 17 to 23, or more than two of the subjects numbered 29 to 33" may be offered. A candidate desiring to offer any of the subjects 30 to 33 must produce evidenoe satisfactory to the Civil Service Commissioners of laboratory training in an institution/of university rank. For geography other equivalent training will be required. ■ A few extracts from the syllabus will show the far-reaching, character of this examination at which women for the firßt time will be pitted against men. Present Day.—Questions on contemporary subjects, social, economic, and constitutional viva voce. The examination will be in matters of general interest, not in matters of academic _ interest ; it is intended to test the • •andida.te s alertness, intelligence,, and general outlook, and oftier personal quam-ias of value for the post of inspector of-taxes. Business Organisation.—The various forms of business undertakings (partnerships,- companies, co-operative lirodaction, ■ producers' ; societies, ro-operanve distribution, etc.), and their organisation, working, and control Tne.-.anous classes of business . (manufacturers,' importers, wholesalers, brokers, retailers, multiple shops, etc.). The finaocMng of business, including taxation, public expenditure, and public borrowing m relation thereto. .Trusts and combinations; grading and standardisation of commodities; organisation of markets, regulation of prices., Industrial History: The history of the industrial and.commercial development of England, with special reference to the period since 1760, together with the main course of legislation, affecting industry. . . , c Accounting.—The general principles-of accounting and their practical application to different classes of business. Treatment of foreign currencies in accounts. Banking and Exchange.—Banking and the money market. The functions and economic significance of baninng. The cheque system and the clearing house. The money market; its fluctuations, periodic and other. The reserve and the discount rate. . . Eeal and Personal Property.—The English law of real and personal property, including the law of succession. Constitutional Law.—The Constitutional Law of the United Kingdom and of the British Empire. ■■„;.. . English History.—English history from 1485 to the present time ;■■ politics, economics, and constitution will be considered as mutually affecting each oiher, and all together as the outcome ot the common life of the nation. European History.—From lils to 1914. The history of the American Continent, of India, and of the Far East, will be included in so far as it influences European fortunes in an important, degree. _ „ „ . Higher Mathematics,—lnfinite eenea; exponential and trigonometric functions of a real variable; complex numbers; solid analytical geometry of the plane, straight line, and sphere; Taylors series; partial differentiation; moments of inertia;' Centrodes; simple cases cf linked mechanisms; the motion of rigid bodies in two dimensions; fluid pressure; stability of flotation. ■ ... Never before at any examination for the Civil Service, and perhaps outside it, were women subjected to such, a test as this, and it will be extremely intereating to see how they acquit themselves. The scales of salary for women have not yet been fixed, but those for men start at £130, with bonus addition—uot too generous a remuneration for one expected to possess all this knowledge.