3 JANUARY 1931, Page 30

Mr. Samuel McKechnie's The Romance of the Civil Service (Sampson

Low, 6s.) is a sort of guide to the various branches of our bureaucracy and government institutions—to their architecture, • historical development and present-day . duties. The author alludes to " the punctiliousness 'which is demanded of Government officials."- That quality scarcely emerges in spellings like Ben Johnson (p. 165) and by the attribution of " never said a foolish thing," etc., to Charles I. (p. 166). And one discovers anything but romance in the statement regarding the number of Civil Servants that in 1871 the number was 53,874 ; in 1891, it was 79,241 ; in 1911, it -had gone up to 172,352. To-day there are over 300,000 Civil Servants." Still the figure, however appalling, seems to ensure a reason- ably sufficient public -for the circulation of this book.