23 FEBRUARY 1884, Page 3

The finance departments of all the Courts amalgamated into the

High Court have been consolidated, and Mr. Gladstone has appointed Sir George Kellner Assistant-Paymaster-General, with instructions to organise and manage the huge mass of business, involving scores of millions, which will thus be created. 'The appointment, with its endless responsibility for details, is not an enviable one, but Mr. Gladstone's selection will give • great pleasure in India. Sir George Kellner is, we believe, the only member of the Indian TJneovenanted Service who has risen to high English office through that road alone. Lord Dalhousie early detected his extraordinary capacity for financial detail, and em- ployed him to investigate and reform that huge abuse, the ancient Stud system. Thenceforward he was incessantly employed in military finance ; was sent for to England, to assist in some large changes ; was despatched to Cyprus, to bring the finances into order, for which he received the K.C.S.I. ; and is now appointed to introduce order into one of the largest official businesses in the world. Sir George's story is as remarkable as any Dr. Smiles has ever related, and all the more so because he has never had a patron, or the slightest political influence of any kind.