SIR, Mr. Tilley to Mr. Maitland. General Post Office, 18th December 1857. In reply to your letter of the 27th ultimo, I am directed by the Postmaster-General to inform you that persons who are promoted from the fourth to the third class in the Solicitor's Office will have to be examined by the Civil Service Commissioners. I am, &c. SIR, Mr. Tilley to Mr. Maitland. General Post Office, 14th January 1858. THE Postmaster-General has deemed it expedient to lower the standard of the examination for letter-carriers and mail guards, and I am to acquaint you, for the information of the Civil Service Commissioners, that the following qualifications are to be substituted for those now prescribed, viz :— Dictation. Three or four lines from some easy book. Arithmetic-Sums in addition and subtraction, not more difficult than the following : His Grace has decided that auxiliary letter-carriers in London shall for the future be subjected to the above-mentioned examination. The regulations respecting the age, health, and character of the auxiliary letter-carriers will be the same as those fixed for regular letter-carriers. I am, &c. Mr. Maitland to Mr. Tilley. SIR, Civil Service Commission, 16th January 1858. IN reply to your letter of the 14th instant (No. 38,396), intimating the opinion of the Postmaster-General that it would be desirable to lower the standard of the examination for letter-carriers and mail guards, and proposing that the qualifications specified in your communication should be substituted for those now prescribed, I am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to state that as the Postmaster General must be more competent than they are to form a judgment with regard to the requirements of the department and the inconvenience which might result from retaining unaltered the subjects. of examination fixed under the Order in Council of 21st May 1855, with the assistance of the Commissioners, according to the discretion of the chief authorities of the department, they have only to intimate their acquiescence in the changes proposed. I am to add that the Commissioners will be prepared to undertake the examinations of auxiliary letter-carriers in London. SIR, Mr. Tilley to Mr. Maitland. I have, &c. General Post Office, 27th January 1858. I AM directed by the Duke of Argyll to acquaint you, for the information of the Civil Service Commissioners, that after a careful consideration of the subject, his Grace has decided that for the future he will nominate more than one candidate for each vacancy for the appointment of a clerk in the metropolitan offices, with a view to the examination being competitive. I am, &c. PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. Mr. Maitland to the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. Civil Service Commission, 13th November 1857. SIR, REFERRING to communications addressed by direction of the Civil Service Commissioners to Mr. Thomas in the months of June, July, and August 1855, and to his reply, dated 25th September 1855, stating that the Master of the Rolls, from pressure of other business, had not yet been enabled to suggest any tests for the examination of candidates, I am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to state, that by a communication received from the Treasury they learn that a junior situation in the Public Record Office is at present vacant, and that an appointment is in contemplation. The Commissioners would, therefore, suggest, that it is now desirable to settle, as soon as may be convenient, the qualifications to be required from candidates. Of the four points on which, by the Order in Council of 21st May 1855, the Commissioners are required to satisfy themselves, two, viz., character and physical competency, need not, it is presumed, be the subject of special regulations; medical certificates and testimonials to character are invariably required on entrance into the public service; and in cases where any doubt arises, investigations are made. With regard to the other points specified in the Order, viz., the age and the knowledge and ability of candidates, the Commissioners will be glad to receive a communication from you. The enclosed document, which specifies the limits of age and subjects of examination, as arranged with the great majority of the public offices, may, perhaps, be of service when the subject is under consideration. I have, &c. SIR, The Right Honourable the Master of the Rolls to Mr. Maitland. The Rolls House, Chancery Lane, 27th November 1857. IN answer to your letter of the 13th instant, I have to state that no rule has hitherto been made in the Public Record Office as to the age of clerks. It should not be less than 17, nor exceed 30. It has happened that occasionally an appointment has been made of a gentleman exceeding the usual age of admission, but possessed of a peculiar interest in the subject of records, which has turned out advantageous. Certificates of health, &c., were first required by the Treasury letter of the 13th May 1853. Since that period two have been required and laid before the Deputy Keeper. On the subject of character, the parent or friend of the candidate has usually attended the Deputy Keeper and answered questions as to the previous employment and occupation of the candidate. The general intelligence of the candidate, his habits of application and diligence, however, which are matters of general importance, are, to a very limited extent, ascertainable by any examination. The substance of the examination by the Commissioners should, it is submitted, be as follows: 1. Penmanship. The candidate ought to be well tested by requiring him to write text hand, round hand, and running hand (the latter without lines), and also what is usually called printing. Orthography, of course, and not merely in common words. 2. Figures. He should be familiar with the four first rules of arithmetic, vulgar and decimal fractions, and be able to keep ordinary accounts. 3. He should possess a fair knowledge of geography. 4. He should be conversant with the leading incidents of the History of England, and particularly its chronology. 5. Knowledge of languages. He should be able to translate Latin into English, and he should also be able to translate French into English. The qualifications above noticed are sufficient for the appointment of a clerk, but he will have to acquire more after he has entered upon his duties. The business he will have to perform will consist, in a great measure, of making correct short abstracts of documents, but this is a qualification which cannot well be tested without long examination, and is one which is easily acquired by a person of competent understanding with practice. He ought, however, to be tested by the examiners in the same manner as they would if he were intended for the department of a clerk in a Secretary of State's office. For the purpose, also, of performing the duties of the Public Record Department, he will have to become conversant with the abbreviations and character of writing of ancient documents. On this head Sir Francis Palgrave makes the following observations : "No previous knowledge of ancient handwritings is required. "Several of the Record Publications and Record Reports afford ample "materials for this purpose. They contain numerous well-executed "facsimiles of records, and also the development of the text of such "facsimile records in type, such type representing the abbreviations. "The pupil should first acquire a notion of the abbreviations in the "printed text, and then, covering the printed page, by comparing "them with the facsimile engraving, and so make out the facsimile. "I have never found a clerk who failed to acquire the needful know "ledge for reading or copying any record of average difficulty in a "month or five weeks." The above are all the observations which occur to me on the subject of your communication. I have, &c. SIR, Mr. Maitland to the Right Hon. The Master of the Rolls. Civil Service Commission, 1st December 1857. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge, by direction of the Civil Service Commissioners, the receipt of your letter of the 27th ultimo, relative to the examination of persons nominated to clerkships in the Public Record Office. And, in reply, I am to state that the Commissioners will regulate, according to the wishes you have been good enough to express, the examinations which may be held under their directions. As it is of course desirable that the subjects of examination should be precisely defined, they venture to solicit your attention to the following matters of detail, on which, without further explanation, they may perhaps misapprehend your meaning. 1. It is assumed that under the second head (Figures) the important rules termed reduction, proportion, practice, and interest should be included. 2. The ability of candidates "to keep ordinary accounts" will, unless an intimation to the contrary is received, be tested by examination in "book-keeping by single entry." 3. As the Commissioners are informed that candidates should be tested in the same manner as if intended for a Secretary of State's office, they propose to include among the prescribed subjects the preparation of a précis or abstract of official papers. I am to add that the Commissioners will regard 17 and 30, the ages mentioned in your letter, as the limits of age for the depart ment. I am, in conclusion, to bring under your notice the enclosed copy of a resolution unanimously agreed to by the House of Commons on the 14th of July last, adding at the same time that the system of competition among a limited number of nominees, has now been adopted in most of the public departments, and that the Commissioners are led by the experience which they have had, to regard it as, on many grounds, better than that which it is superseding. SIR, I have, &c. The Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls to Mr. Maitland. Rolls House, 3rd December 1857. IN answer to your letter of the 1st inst., I beg to state, with reference to paragraphs 1 and 2, that it is a correct apprehension of my meaning under the second head (Figures) to include the rules in arithmetic mentioned in your letter, and also an examination in bookkeeping by single entry. At the same time it is proper that the Commissioners should be informed that the ordinary duties of a clerk in the Record Office, except in the department of the Secretary's office, require no knowledge of arithmetic or of keeping accounts; at the same time any one of the clerks may be called upon to afford assistance in the Secretary's office. The accounts there, however, are very simple. With regard to paragraph 3, as I observed in my last letter, the great business of the clerks is the preparation of short abstracts of documents, and unless he is able to accomplish this a clerk is comparatively useless. Generally speaking, however, this capacity is only acquired by experience, and many persons who at first appear incompetent to discharge this duty, with a little instruction acquire it rapidly, and perform it correctly and expeditiously. I am unable to express any opinion derived from experience on the subject of the resolution agreed to by the House of Commons on the 14th of July last, to which you refer in your letter, and of which you send me a copy; at the same time I have no reason to doubt the correctness of the conclusion which the experience of the Commissioners has led them to form. I have, &c. SIR, PUBLIC WORKS LOAN OFFICE. Mr. Willink to Mr. Maitland. Public Works Loan Office, South Sea House, London, 16th July 1857. WITH reference to the circular of the Civil Service Commissioners of the month of June 1855, and to this Board's reply thereto, dated the 11th of July following, I am directed to acquaint you, for the information of the Commissioners, that the clerk to this Board having tendered his resignation of the situation held by him, it will shortly become necessary for the Public Works Loan Commissioners to appoint a person to succeed him, and, with a view to the examination of the candidate by the Civil Service Commissioners, I am to state that in the opinion of this Board the qualifications for the Clerkship should consist of A knowledge of orthography, A good legible handwriting, Copying correctly from manuscript and manuscript accounts, I am, &c. Mr. Maitland to Mr. Willink. SIR, Civil Service Commission, 17th July 1857. In reply to your letter of yesterday's date, relative to the examination of candidates nominated to the situation of clerk to the Public Works Loan Commissioners, I am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to state that they will regulate, in accordance with the scheme contained in your letter, such examinations as it may be their duty to conduct. I am at the same time to transmit for the consideration of the Public Works Loan Commissioners a copy of a resolution unanimously agreed to by the House of Commons on Tuesday last, adding that the system of competition among a limited number of nominees has now been introduced into the great majority of the publie depart |