FROM ME TO MYSELF

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 September 1939, Page 9

FROM ME TO MYSELF

, PARADOXES OF OFFICIALDOM. It sometimes happens in the course - of official and political life that a man i writes a letter in one capacity and rei plies to it in another. When Lord l Sankey became Lord Chancellor he - had to resign his position as a Lord Justice of Appeal, and to send in his > resignation to himself as Lord Chancellor. In accepting his resignatior i he sent himself a nicely-worded lettei thanking himself for the services he ’ bad rendered the State as a Lord Jus tice of Appeal, and wishing himself t I long career as. Lord Chancellor. When Lord Haldane was at the Wai Office he took ovex* for a brief tim( ‘ the additional duties of Home Secre--3 tary during the temporary absence o: ’ that Minister. Just before assuming ' t’wse duties Lord Haldane, as SecreJ tary of State for War, had sent a let ' ter to the Home Office making ai 3 official request, and one of his firs 1 duties as Home Secretary was to sene J the War Office a polite refusal. A correspondent of the “Manchestei t Guardian” records how an Irish can

didate for the first division of the - British Civil Service was officially ; selected to examine himself in Irish. ( It happened that Irish was one ot; : the optional subjects in the examma- ( ' tion, and! this candidate, Mr O’Connor, ’ was the only one who took that sub-, . ject. After the examination was over, the Civil Service Commissioners ask- ! ed the occupant of a professorial ! chair at Dublin to act as examiner in Irish. The professed referred the . commissioners to his friend, Mi O’Connor, who, he declared, was a ! much better authority on the subject, j Mr O’Connor, when approached by ’ the commissioners, readily consented ’ to act, and when his examination paper in Irish came before him he gave himself full marks. And more i than that! He was duly thanked by i the commissioners for placing his valuable services at their disposal, and was' rewarded with the usual honAorarium offered in such eases to examiners.