SIMONDS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. * IT is

said that, even in the days of good Queen Bess, Willoughby considered there was nothing left of the heroic for a man to do, but to discover the North-west passage ; in which attempt he perished. Had the ancient mariner lived in our days, he would have found in the Augean stable of bureaucracy a job more tasking to the strength of Hercules than any labour the hero undertook—than all his labours put together. This task, however, Mr. Arthur Symonds attempts, in a series of papers of remark, suggestion, and proposition, addressed to Mr. Gladstone, and printed for private

circulation.

Mr. Symonds is a man of varied experience and observation as re- gards public business; he has devoted, as he intimates in his volume, a quarter of a century's consideration to the task he has undertaken ; and his bookdisplays the results of reflections and of deductions upon what he has seen. It is highly probable that he has a large and prac- ticable plan, the thorough carrying out of which would remove obstructions in public business and reform the organization of the civil service. But he does not succeed in presenting his reader with a clear idea of his proposition, at least sufficiently for the investi- gator to realize the principle of the new system, much less to con- ceive of it as a thorough organization, parts as well as whole. It may be that further space, as the author intimates, was requisite, —though we think the space is ample for a clear outline : it may I be that the author, although his purposes are clear to himself; has not cultivated the power of presenting his plans with specific distinctness to others ; and certainly there is a good deal of gene- rality passing into vagueness in the volume. It is possible that Mr.. Symonds, in his anxiety to effect a large reform and reorgan- ize the civil service on a scale of theoretical perfection, has not sufficiently discriminated between things which are diferent in their own natures—between that which must be the conception and determination of an individual mind, and that in which a more living spirit, an elevation in the character and a more de- fined object in the duties of public officers, with a better arrange- ment of the business of the departments, would suffice. All public business, or, as Mr. Symonds prefers to call it, "agenda," consists of the principle, the details, and the execution or working. The principle itself seems to us clearly a matter for individual or at least for Cabinet decision, any interference with which by subordinates, call them by what name you please, would be mischievous. For example, in dealing with the Corn-laws, Lord John Russell proposed the principle of a fixed duty—Sir Robert Peel, perfect freedom : again, in equalizing expenditure and income, Lord John suggested a hoped-for augmentation of taxes by a greater freedom of trade—Sir Robert Peel, direct taxa- tion in the form of an income-tax. 'To endow subordinates in these matters with the power of tendering official or authoritative advice, would produce no good and might occasion evil : the initia- tive is individual, the determination with the Cabinet. Yet Mr. Symonds seems to contemplate the establishment of a Board of In- quiry; to divide the responsibility of the Minister, if not to take the initiative out of his hands : as in this illustration of the pro- ceedings on the principle of the Income-tax—should it be a uni- form or a graduated rate ?

"Let us suppose that the Alinister is .provided with a well-constituted Board of Inquiry; and that a matter of public import—such, for instance' as the amendment of the Income-tax—is pressed upon his consideration. He calls upon the officers whose duty it is to inquire, to ascertain with the aid of the principal ministerial officers of revenue, the present state of the mat- ter generally, what has been done or proposed before, or elsewhere, with the objectiolislliat have been made, and to collate the whole so that all mat- ters which relate to the same subject, however opposite their character, may be brought together ; and also to ascertain all suggestions of remedies, and treat them in the same manner, superadding the pros and cons ; suggesting how, if the Minister should adopt any suggestion, it should be carried into effect ; and finally, their own recommendations in its behalf. Let this re- port, made in a settled form, rejecting surplusage, compact and methodical, so as to be at once full and easy of reference, be published, and opportunity be given for its discussion in the press, the Minister all the while standing by, and quietly forming his opinion, not only of the abstract and official merits ol' the various views but of the policy (in the larger sense) of adopt- ing any and what, and applying them in legislation. "As a further practical test, let him require the officers charged with the preparation of the details of legislation to collate the present law in the form of dn enactment or digest, to realize in the shape of a bill the recom- mendations of the officers of inquiry, and also, to a greater or less extent, the alternative measures ; pointing out what is impracticable, what is difficult, what requires collateral amendment or alteration, and, if need be, pointing out other and better means. Let the bill so prepared be published and cir- culated."

Surely all this' in practice, would conduce to no other purpose than staving off the question. Unless Ministers in future are different from what they have been, they would not call for in- quiry, till the "pressure upon their consideration" became urgent. The call, with probable discordances of opinion among his advisers, and the preparation and publication of the bill, would enable the Minister to "stand quietly by," doing nothing, for a considerable time. A Minister, like every man in a position of eminence and leadership, should be master of his business; and any attempt to supply this deficiency by subordinate aids will be of little or no avail. It is tantamount to giving an insufficient general a good staff, or to surround a head-surgeon with able assistants when he himself must perform the operation and fix the time when it is to be done. In doubtful cases the leader can at present ask advice from those he deems most competent. In cases where some change of principle is admitted to be desirable but information is required, there is at present the resource of a Commission,—as in the case ti;Pleaers relative to the Obstruction of Public Business and the Organization of unit Sumer. By Arthur Symonds, Esq. Printed for Private Circulation.

of the Poor-law and Municipal Reform ; and a Committee in the matter of the graduated Income-tax. That Committee, however, elicited nothing but what a competent man might have discovered for himself. In preparing the details of a measure, the sugges- tions of a board would doubtless be of use ; but this practice at pre- sent exists, though evidently admitting of great improvement,—as we see by the blunders and failures continually going on.

Except the attempt at doing too much, or not increasing the strength with the increase of business, the great evil of our present system is the division of departments, and consequently of re- sponsibility, and the predominance of a spirit of routine. The mis- chiefs arising from division are perhaps more obvious in the mil- itary than in the civil service,—as the separation of the Ordnance and Commissariat from the Army, and the various independent or separate branches of the Naval service. The spirit of routine works greater evils ; substituting modes for substance, begetting a habit of self-sufficient inertness, which not only opposes improvement but even resists acceleration of movement, and ignores everything beyond the walls of the office. These evils Mr. Symonds clearly perceives ; and his aim as clearly is to remedy them, by a freer in- tercourse among officials, and a closer connexion of offices, or amal- gamation when necessary, as well as by calling a greater variety of intelligence to discharge official duty, and improving the spirit and enterprise of official men. The plan by which he would enforce this is by a sort of classification of the officers and their functions ; which, so far as we understand it, seems to rely too much upon mechanism or a formal arrangement of parts. At the same time, the details or working out of his various projects are not very definite ; nor would it perhaps be possible to render them so, except by a more specific exposition accompanied by practical illustrations. This might require more space than Mr. Symonds has allowed himself,

to go through all the departments of Government ; but two or three of the principal might have been taken as examples : the

present condition of the Home Secretary's office, for instance, with an exposition of what it would be under the new regime. Mr. Symonds, indeed, states that "it has been suggested that the notes are too desultory for the instruction of practical persons "; but he replies, that "persons somewhat acquainted with the transaction of affairs apprehend the scope and tenour of the remarks." It may be so, but we should have doubted it.

A strong peculiarity of the author's mind is a tendency towards mechanism, by which an outward arrangement is to accomplish what is properly speaking a consequence of the inward spirit. Sometimes this peculiarity produces a useful suggestion.

"Every article of outfit should be directed specifically to its purpose ; and , it would be well if every chief were to do as Pitt did—have in his room, pro- perly arranged, a number of tables or stands, or other accessible deposit:Tr ries, on which were placed the matters needing attention, and to which, when he desired, or was in a condition to consider a subject, he at oncewent. He had under his eye, and therefore within the means of recollection, what he had to do ; and he could do it as the thought or the inclination or the op- portunity suggested or permitted."

There is truth in this remark, the evident result of experience.

"I have found so much mischief done to the public service by the hope- lessness of employes, that I am disposed to press the consideration of this

topic even upon dry economical grounds ; but I am satisfied that, apart from our sense of right, and the desire to act thereon, it is important to the com- fort and success of all who are in authority over them, especially under the present false system of remuneration. "Nothing can supply the place of disinterested and judicious zeal; and there are few unwilling to exert themselves in a worthy public object, while they feel themselves sustained at the time, and on the road to advancement. Damp this feeling, and it soon becomes a cold calculation—how little must I do to keep position ; and one need not say that the exertion soon falls below the proper standard."

The following is a remark of deep truth, though it has no parti- cular relation to its context.

"It is thus, indeed, that most of our learning comes in common life : we see and do not observe ; and yet, somewhile after, at the end of a long period of years, we find that unobservant sight has left impressions upon our minds, which, with similar impressions, has given us a stock of knowledge, that, 4, we had sought for it, would never have come so well as that knowledge casually picked up, or rather which has attached itself to us in passing."

Mr. Symonds appears to contemplate another volume of a popu- lar kind on the same subject. But if it is to have a really popular effect, he must change his principle of composition. The evils he would remedy must be distinctly presented to common experience and apprehension ; and the remedies he proposes must be as dis- tinctly enounced, in common language. His present imperfect success in unfolding a very important subject, on which he has evidently good views if he has not fully mastered it, is to be re- gretted; for unless very great improvements be made in the organi- zation of public business, both in the offices and in Parliament, we are in danger of a complete break-down.