H.—l4.

2

due regard to economical administration. In order to develop and maintain a high standard of service, not only must an endeavour be made to impress on employees a right sense of their duty to the State, but also a means must be devised whereby they will be rewarded both in respect of salary and promotion on a basis that will afford an incentive to the best possible effort. Every opportunity exists for the accelerated promotion of officers displaying ambition and possessing the necessary ability and qualifications. The application of promotion by merit, and by merit alone, is still rigidly adhered to. A glance at the Classification List will reveal the fact that a large number of responsible positions are now held by well-qualified officers who have received promotion on account of special ability and attainments, without regard to seniority by length of service. The following quotation from a memorandum submitted by a British Royal Commission on service matters recently enunciated what may be termed an ideal in this respect:— The Civil Service is becoming more and more the indispensable servant of the community, and it [is the business of the community to ensure that all who serve it are appointed on the score of capacity and character alone, and that those who reach the highest posts in the Service shall do so by virtue of ability and merit. The inevitable result of any shortcomings in these matters will be weakness and failure. Historical Development op Present System. When referring to the question of classification of the Service in the last annual report mention was made of the fact that the principles underlying the system of administration as defined by the Public Service Act were gradually being extended to nearly all English-speaking countries. In this respect it is interesting to note the historical development of the system. The change-over to a more equitable and more scientific method in the older lands has been slow, and in the face of the hostile criticism of many whose motives have not been altogether in the interests of the best service to the State. In Great Britain, as far back as 1694, the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Civil Service administration, due largely to patronage, became so acute that in that year a series of statutes was passed aiming at the disfranchisement of certain classes of public employees. Again in 1809 the position was such that legislation directed against the brokerage of offices was enacted, and the Reform Bill of 1832 contained provisions the object of which was to eradicate the evils that existed in the Civil Service. Later, in 1853, Gladstone appointed a special Commission to investigate the Civil Service, and an attempt was made to solve the problem of combating patronage, to reorganize the personnel of the Service, and to raise the standard in an endeavour to attract men of talent and intellectual capacity. The report stressed the principles of open competition and promotion by merit, and also recommended a systematic grading of positions. This report met with a storm of adverse criticism, and it was not until June, 1870, that the principle of open competition for clerkships and similar appointments was admitted, and thirty years before other fundamental features of the report (which are largely in force at the present time) were adopted. An indication of the state of affairs that existed is given in an extract from a statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1871 : " Under the former system there never was such a thing known as a man's being appointed because he was supposed to be fit for the place . . In the United States the public agitation against the wasteful effects of what was known as the " spoils system " has been long and insistent. Although earnest efforts at improvement were made as far back as 1850, it was not until over thirty years later that the matter took definite shape in the form of the Civil Service Act of 1883. It has been stated that the passing of this Act was the direct result of the shooting of President Garfield by a disappointed office-seeker. The law thus enacted in 1883 remedied the more flagrant abuses of patronage, and, although it has been modified in certain respects to make it fit in with the extended functions of Government and to make provision for a classification scheme, the principles of that Act are largely in vogue to-day.