to examination in the subjects set forth at p. 39 of the Appendix to this Report, with the results which are detailed below: The subjoined table shows the places at which the successful candidates had been severally educated, and also the offices in which they obtained appointments; having been, in accordance with the Regulations, "permitted to choose in their order, as deter"mined by the competitive examination, among the situations "offered for competition." It may not be out of place to remark that as this examination was almost exactly similar to those which are annually held for the Civil Service of India, the results of it, as above set forth, throw some light on the question how far it is true, as has sometimes been alleged, that these examinations are not calculated to do justice to those kinds of knowledge and ability which are fostered at the great public schools and universities. Under the Order of Your Majesty in Council, dated 12th February 1876, by which a "Lower Division" of the Civil Service was constituted, two open competitions were held during the year 1876, at which 125 men clerks were selected.* One of the main objects apparent in the Order was to provide that clerks should be selected in anticipation of expected vacancies, so as to be ready to fill them as soon as they occurred. At first this object was very imperfectly realized, owing to the impossibility of ascertaining prospectively, with any approach to accuracy, the probable number of vacancies, at a time when many departments were undergoing reorganization. This difficulty, however, has now been surmounted, and in the absence of any similar disturbing cause we hope to be able henceforth to supply clerks of this class immediately on receiving demands for them. Difficulties of another kind presented themselves in the application of the rules laid down, in clause 9 of the Order, respecting the assignment of clerks of this class to the departments in which their services were required. On this subject we beg leave to refer to a letter addressed by us to the Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury on the 27th January 1877, a copy of which will be found in the Appendix.† In pursuance of the provisions of clause 12 of the same Order 82 appointments were made exceptionally to the Lower Division of clerks from the body of writers serving before 4th June 1870, and 75 from those subsequently placed on our register; while 13 writers of the latter class, who were proposed for appointment, failed in the "supplementary examination" by which all such candidates were required to prove their fitness. It might, perhaps, have been expected that, owing partly to the operation of this clause, and partly to changes made in pursuance of the policy recommended by the Civil Service Enquiry Commission, and adopted by the Lords of Your Majesty's Treasury, a sensible diminution would have taken place in the number of writers employed in the service. It appears, however, that whereas the total number on the register at the end of 1875 was 1,915 (1,688 men and 227 boys), and the number in actual employment was 1,326 (1,197 men and 129 boys), the total *The following is a list of the DEPARTMENTS to which LOWER DIVISION CLERKS (Men or Boys) have been assigned-Admiralty; Charitable Bequests Commission (Ireland); Charity Commission; Civil Service Commission; Colonial Office; Constabulary, Ireland, Inspector-General's Office; Convict Prisons Department (Ireland) Directors Office; Dublin Metropolitan Police (Commissioners' Office); Dublin Metropolitan Police, (Divisional Offices); Exchequer and Audit Office; Home Office; Inland Revenue; Judge Advocate General's Office; Local Government Board (England); Local Government Board (Ireland); Mint; National Education Office, Ireland; Patent Office; Paymaster-General's Office (Chancery Pay Office); Post Office; Privy Council Office; Public Works Loan Office; Public Works Office, Ireland; Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancers Office (Scotland); Reformatories Office; Registrar General's Office, England; Registrar General's Office, Scotland; Seamen's Registry Office; Trade (Board of); Treasury; War Office; Woods (Office of), Quit Rent Office, Dublin; Works (Office of). † See p. 578. See Treasury Circular of February 29th, 1876, p. 20. number on the register on the 30th June 1877 was 2,160 (1,786 men and 374 boys), and the number in actual employment was as nearly as can be stated, 1,441 (1,175 men, 266 boys): the residue in both years consisting almost entirely of persons who were not at the time desirous of employment in this capacity. On the other hand, it will be seen from the following comparative statement of the numbers of candidates examined for registration in the years 1875 and 1876 respectively, that the additions to the list were fewer in 1876 than in 1875, owing, probably, to a diminution in the number of removals from it by resignation or otherwise. 337 1,000 1,337 73 145 218 210 503 713 74 127 201 It will be seen also from the same statement that, though there has been some falling off in the demand for such employment, as measured by the proportion of applicants to persons registered, this proportion is still somewhat greater than 3 to 1. INDIAN SERVICES. At the annual competition for the Civil Service of India, held at Easter 1876, 202 candidates presented themselves to compete for 30 vacancies; the number of vacancies in the previous year having been 37, and the number of candidates 198. Of the 38 gentlemen who were selected in 1874, only 34 appeared for their Final Examination in May and June 1876, two having died in the interval, a third having voluntarily withdrawn, and the fourth having been permitted by the Secretary of State, on our recommendation, to put off his examination for a year, owing to ill health. All those who were examined proved to be duly qualified, and obtained appointments accordingly. Since the date of our last Report a correspondence has passed between Your Majesty's Secretary of State for India and ourselves on the subject of the modifications required in the rules respecting the selection and training of Indian civilians, in order to suit the altered conditions introduced by the Marquis of Salisbury's Despatch, addressed on 24th February 1876 to the Governor General of India.* * See p. 609. From this Despatch it appeared that, with the view of securing for the Civil Service of India an increased number of persons educated at the great Universities, it had been determined to lower the superior limit of age from 21 to 19, and to offer a pecuniary inducement to selected candidates to pass the period of their probation at some university at which moral responsibility for the conduct of the students is undertaken, and rules of discipline are enforced. The reduction of the limit of age to 19 made it obviously necessary to revise the scheme of the entrance examination, which having been originally drawn up in 1854 with a view to candidates of the age of 23, had remained in force with hardly any alteration ever since that time. Accordingly, new regulations are now being framed, under which a competition will be held at the end of June or beginning of July 1878, limited to candidates between the ages of 17 and 19.* At the same time, out of consideration for persons above 19 who may have been studying with a view to these competitions, it has been arranged that, besides the examination above mentioned, an examination on the present footing is to take place in the earlier part of the year, commencing on April 9th, 1878; one half of the disposable appointments being allotted to the first examination, and the other half to the second. The rules for the training of the selected candidates have also undergone some revision. The amount of time to be spent by students in reporting legal cases will henceforth be somewhat diminished; they will be expected to acquire some knowledge of one at least of the classical languages of India, Sanskrit, Arabic, or Persian; and they will be encouraged, but not required, to study one branch of Natural Science, Botany, Geology, or Zoology. We were of opinion that as they are to be selected at an early age, with the express design that they should acquire afterwards some academical culture, it would be well to extend the period of their training to three years, not with the view of increasing the number or severity of their examinations before this Board, but in order that they might have time to obtain the desired culture, so far as it is to be derived from mixing in University life, and time also to pursue the studies necessary for a University degree, without infringing on those which are necessary to fit them for the Service. It was decided, however, that the probationary term should continue to be limited to two years, it being understood that the standard of qualification, which has always been based on the assumption of two full years' study, is to remain unaltered, and that in future, as heretofore, at the several examinations which the probationers have to pass here, the requirements of Universities or Colleges will not be regarded as affording any excuse for imperfect preparation. * A copy of the regulations as finally settled will be found at p. 636, In June 1876 a competition was held for admission to the Indian Engineering Service, when 134 candidates competed for 50 vacancies; the corresponding numbers in 1875 having been as follows:-vacancies 50, candidates 107. In November 1876 we held an examination for admission to the Forest Service of India, at which 5 candidates were selected out of 12 who presented themselves. At the similar examination in November 1875, 10 candidates presented themselves, and 2 were selected. MILITARY SERVICES. The following statement shows the number of candidates for the military services whose cases were dealt with in the year 1876 - We have been in correspondence with the Director-General of Military Education with the view of altering in one particular the method of examination of candidates for admission to the Royal Military College. It has been the practice to treat the "preliminary" examinations, which all such candidates are required to pass, as inseparable from the "further" éxaminations, and always to hold the former on the days immediately preceding the latter. Thinking it very desirable, for many reasons, that they should be separated, we obtained the consent of the military authorities to our holding, as a tentative measure, before the competition of July 1877, two extra preliminary examinations, one in April, the other in May. The experiment proved perfectly successful; a large number of candidates gladly availed themselves of these opportunities of qualifying for admission to the competition, and the pressure of the July examination was considerably diminished. It is now proposed that, after a certain date, all preliminary examinations for this branch of the service shall be held at times distinct from the "further" examinations; and we only await a final communication from the War Office in order to make an announcement on the subject.† *This Board was not informed as to the number of appointments. |
