by the medical officer of the establishment; and my Lords request that ADMIRALTY. on the transmission of such periodical returns from this department to the Civil Service Commissioners, they will direct the necessary certifi- Grant of certicate, or notation to be made thereon, so as to entitle the persons artificers and named in the said lists to be pensioned according to the scale of the workmen. Act. ficates for I am, &c. SIR, Mr. Maitland to Mr. Romaine. 30th September 1859. In reply to your letter of the 26th instant, proposing by desire of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that quarterly returns of artificers and workmen (excepting ordinary labourers) entered permanently in the several naval establishments, should be transmitted to this office, according to a form which you have enclosed, and that certificates of qualification should thereupon be granted for the persons named in such returns. I am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to state, that the Order in Council under which they act, requires them to ascertain before granting any certificate, 1. That the candidate is within the limits of age prescribed in the department to which he desires to be admitted. 2. That the candidate is free from any physical defect or disease which would be likely to interfere with the proper discharge of his duties. 3. That the character of the candidate is such as to qualify him for public employment; and 4. That the candidate possesses the requisite knowledge and ability for the proper discharge of his official duties. With reference to the first of these heads the Commissioners have to request that they may be informed of the limits of age which their Lordships consider it expedient to establish. On the second point the report of the medical officer of the establishment would, no doubt, in the great majority of cases be sufficient, but it will be desirable that such reports should follow the language of the Order in Council. With reference to character, the Commissioners will be glad to understand whether their Lordships consider any special regulations necessary. On the fourth point the Commissioners have only to refer to the communication of the 5th April, mentioned at the commencement of your letter. The Commissioners would further observe, that if they correctly interpret the proposition made by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, it is not intended that the quarterly returns should be accompanied by original evidence either on the first or third of the abovementioned heads, and that subject to any information which they may receive as to the latter, they do not think they would be justified in assenting to such an arrangement. In no other cases of a similar description has the same plan been adopted, although the number of situations, for admission to which certificates are required, is very considerable. The Commissioners have to add, that a return made at quarterly intervals would not, they think, be a sufficient compliance with the Order in Council, which contemplates the grant of certificates for Grant of certi- candidates "proposed to be appointed." On this point, however, as well as on those above noticed, they will be glad to receive such explanation as their Lordships may think proper to give them. I have, &c. ficates for artificers and workmen. Rear-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget, M.P., to the Secretary to the SIR, Admiralty, 4th October 1859. I HAVE received and laid before my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty your letter of the 30th ultimo, relative to their proposal for the examination of the artificers and workmen entered in Her Majesty's dockyards, and in reply, I am commanded by their Lordships to acquaint you, for the information of the Civil Service Commissioners, 1st, that the limit of age for artizans entering these establishments has always been 35 years, according to the Admiralty regulations; 2nd, in the proposed tabular return, the heading of the column relating to "health" shall follow the language of the Order in Council, as desired. As to the third point adverted to by the Commissioners, there are great difficulties in ascertaining the characters of artizans on entering the service, and my Lords do not think it desirable to make any special regulations in this matter, but they will continue, by means of schools and other encouragements to improvement in the social condition of the apprentices, to hold out inducements to respectability and sobriety; moreover, whenever original evidence as to character can be obtained, it will be forwarded to the Civil Service Commissioners with the quarterly return. In regard to the fourth point raised, my Lords desire me to observe that every artizan before being entered is examined by the professional officer as to his fituess to perform his duties; he is then entered for one month on probation, and if found duly qualified he is placed on the establishment as vacancies occur, consequently the artizans whose names are placed in the quarterly return will all, as a matter of course, have been found duly qualified previous to having been placed on the establishment. With regard to a remark that the quarterly return would not be a sufficient compliance with the Order in Council, my Lords have to observe that any other mode of bringing the names of this great department before the Commissioners would involve an enormous amount of labour, and necessitate a considerable addition to the clerical establishment of the Admiralty, which my Lords have been already obliged largely to increase. My Lords request an early reply, in order that the necessary directions may be given. I am, &c. Mr. Maitland to Lord Clarence Paget. MY LORD, Noticing in their order the several points as to which questions have arisen, I am to request that the following observations may be submitted for the consideration of my Lords Commissioners of the ADMIRALTY. Admiralty. ficates for 1. The Civil Service Commissioners will consider 35, the age men- Grant of certitioned in your Lordship's letter, as the superior limit, and they would artificers and suggest that copies of the enclosed instructions should be forwarded to workmen. the proper officers of the several dockyards, for their guidance as to the evidence to be required. It is hoped that if this plan be adopted very little difficulty will arise, although from the variety of cases which must be provided for there would be risk of misconception, and consequently of unnecessary trouble, if the instructions themselves were placed without explanation in the hands of candidates for inferior situations. 2. As to the form of report by the medical officers, the Civil Service Commissioners have only to thank their Lordships for the readiness with which the suggestion offered in my last letter has been acceded to. 3. The Civil Service Commissioners will be glad to receive original evidence as to character, as proposed by your Lordship, in the cases in which it is procurable. It will of course be perceived that without sufficient evidence on this point, the Civil Service Commissioners cannot grant certificates, and if, as they infer from your Lordship's letter, there are cases in which no such evidence can be furnished from previous employers, &c., the only course which they can suggest is that to each return a note to the following effect should be appended, with the signature of the superintendent, "I certify that the characters of the several persons above"named are such as to qualify them for public employment." It is presumed that each superintendent is already responsible to the heads of the department for the character of those whom he accepts, and that the proposal above made, if carried out, will only require that what was before understood should be stated in express terms. 4. On the subject of knowledge and ability, the Civil Service Commissioners have not been directly informed that in the judgment of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty no qualifications which can be tested by examination papers are required at the stage in which their certificates are applied for. They infer, however, from the correspondence that this is the case, and, on that assumption, they think that they will be justified in accepting as sufficient evidence reports from the officers by whom the candidates have been professionally examined, stating (without entering into details) that each has been found duly qualified for the situation which he seeks. The counter-signature of the superintendent would add weight to the reports. 5. With reference to the proposed system of quarterly returns, the Commissioners have only to observe that, from the experience which they have had, they cannot but regard as somewhat exaggerated the apprehensions which are expressed as to the amount of labour which would be occasioned if any other mode of notifying nominations were adopted. They would have been glad to be furnished with details enabling them to form a definite opinion on the subject, but having so positive an assurance from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty as to the inconvenience which would result were they to press the objection raised in my last letter, they feel that they have no course open except that of waiving it for the present. They hope that if the system as at first carried out should hereafter appear in this or in any other respect susceptible of improvement, their Lordships will be willing to give their favourable consideration to such changes as may be suggested. I have, &c. ENCLOSURE. ADMIRALTY. the Crown. Grant of certi- Evidence of Age to be required from Candidates for Situations in the Civil Service of ficates for artificers and workmen. I. Every Candidate born in England or Wales after the 30th of June 1837, should produce a certificate from the Registrar General of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, or his provincial officers. These certificates may be obtained at Somerset House, or from the superintendent registrar of the district in which the birth took place. II. Every candidate not producing the above certificate must prove his age by statutory declaration, and should also, if possible, produce a baptismal certificate or an official extract from a non-parochial register at Somerset House, under the Act 3 & 4 Vict. c. 92. This regulation applies, 1. To all candidates not born in England or Wales. 2. To candidates born in England or Wales on or before the 30th of June 1837. 3. To candidates who, though born in England or Wales after the 30th of June 1837, cannot produce the Registrar General's certificate. : The following general rules for the guidance of candidates are to be observed :- (c.) If no extract from a parochial or non-parochial register is produced, the decla- (d.) Statutory declarations must be exactly in the form prescribed by the Act of 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 62. The 18th Section of that Act is as follows: "And whereas it may be necessary and proper in many cases not herein specified, to "require confirmation of written instruments or allegations, or proof of debts, or of the "execution of deeds or other matters; be it therefore further enacted, that it shall and "may be lawful for any justice of the peace, notary public, or other officer now by law "authorized to administer an oath, to take and receive the declaration of any person "voluntarily making the same before him, in the form in the schedule to this Act annexed; "and if any declaration so made shall be false or untrue in any material particular, "the person wilfully making such false declaration shall be deemed guilty of a "misdemeanor." The prescribed form is the following: do solemnly and sincerely declare, &c. and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty, intituled " An Act to repeal an Act of the present Session of Parliament, "intituled An Act for the more effectual abolition of Oaths and Affirmations taken and "made in the various Departments of the State, and to substitute Declarations in lieu "thereof, and for the more entire suppression of voluntary and extra-judicial Oaths "and Affidavits, and to make other provisions for the abolition of unnecessary Oaths." N.B.-By the Act 23 Vict. c. 15, which received the royal assent on the 3rd April 1860, it is enacted, that every "certified copy or extract of or from any register of births, "baptisms, marriages, deaths, or burials," shall bear a stamp impressed thereon, or a proper adhesive stamp affixed thereto, the said stamp, if affixed, being cancelled, as provided by the ninth section of the Act, which (so far as material) is as follows:— SECTION IX.-" The person who shall make, sign, or issue any instrument, document, "or writing in the schedule to this Act mentioned, and chargeable with any of the "duties of one penny and threepence, shall, before he shall deliver the same out "of his hands, custody, or power, affix to it the proper adhesive stamp denoting "the duty chargeable thereon or in respect of it, and shall effectually cancel and "obliterate the stamp, by writing upon it his name, or the name of his firm or "principal, or the initials thereof respectively, and the date of the day and year "on which he shall so write the same; and so and in such manner as clearly "and distinctly to indicate that the said stamp has already been used, and so that "it cannot, without fraud, be again made use of; and if any person who ought so to affix any such stamp, and to cancel and obliterate the same, shall refuse "or neglect so to do, every such person shall for every such offence "forfeit the sum of twenty pounds." The duty (one penny) is to be paid by the party requiring the copy or extract. 66 Lord Clarence Paget to the Civil Service Commissioners. GENTLEMEN, Admiralty, 16th January 1860. ADMIRALTY. Grant of certiWITH reference to former correspondence, I am commanded by ficates for my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit to you herewith, artificers and a copy of instructions, and also of a public notice, that have been issued workmen. respecting the future entry of men in Her Majesty's dockyards. I am, &c. ENCLOSURES. Instructions for the Superintendents of the several Dockyards respecting the future entry of men. 1. No artificer, workman, or labourer whose age exceeds 35 years, to be proved by certificate of birth or extract from baptismal register, is to be entered for service in Her Majesty's dockyards, and you are to take especial care that none be admitted but such as are in all respects the best to be obtained for Her Majesty's service. 2. Before a candidate can be entered, the medical officer is to certify that he is free from any physical defect or disease which would be likely to interfere with the proper discharge of his duties. He will also be tested as to the use of his tools. 3. Original evidence as to character is to be forwarded in all cases in which it is procurable, and in those cases in which no such evidence can be furnished from previous employers, a note to the following effect is to be appended to each return, with the signature of the superintendent:-"I certify that the characters of the several persons "above named are such as to qualify them for public employment." 4. As the candidates for admission as artificers or workmen are not required to be tested by means of examination papers, the officers by whom they have been professionally examined are to state in their report (without entering into details) that each has been found duly qualified for the situation which he seeks. This report is to be countersigned by the superintendent. 5. On first entry for the establishment, all men are to be required to serve one month on probation, and if at the end of that period they shall have proved themselves competent, their appointments are to be confirmed. In filling up vacancies on the establishment, preference is to be given to hired men in the yard who are of good character and ability. NOTICE. Entry of Artificers and Labourers. The entry of all artificers and labourers rests with the superintendent of the dockyard, who is responsible that no workmen be admitted but such as are in all respects the best to be obtained for Her Majesty's service. No person will be eligible for entry whose age exceeds 35 years, to be proved by certificate of birth or extract from baptismal register. Certificates of character will also be required. Every candidate before entry will be tested in the use of his tools. He must also be examined by the surgeon of the yard, and pronounced fit for the service. In On first entry for the establishment, all men will be required to serve one month on probation, and if at the end of that period they shall have proved themselves competent to the satisfaction of the superintendent, their appointments will be confirmed. filling up vacancies on the establishment, preference will be given to hired men in the yard who are of good character and ability." Admiralty, 1st January 1860. Mr. Maitland to Lord Clarence Paget. MY LORD, I am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to request that you will convey to my Lords their thanks, for the extent to which their suggestions have been complied with. The only points which appear to require further notice at present are the two following: 1. It is assumed that the evidence on each head (including the certificates referred to in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the instructions,) will be sent to this office in original, to be retained by the |