3

A.—2,

Enclosure 2 in No. 3. The Inhia Office to the Colonial Office. Sir,— India Office, S.W., 25th June, 1880. I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to acknowledge receipt of Mr. Bramston's letter of the 19th ultimo, requesting to be furnished, for the information of the Government of New Zealand, with Acts, and regulations under them, connected with the Civil Service of India. In reply, I am desired by the Marquis of Hartington to state that admission to the Covenanted Service of India is governed in this country by open competition, under regulations issued in conformity with section 32 of 21 and 22 Viet., c. 106, and that much information regarding the selection and training of the candidates thus appointed to the service is contained in the accompanying Blue Book, presented to Parliament in 1876. I am to add that, in addition to the covenanted Civil servants, the Civil administration of India is conducted by uncovenanted European and Native servants and by military officers, who are appointed and serve under various conditions. Should the Government of New Zealand desire to obtain more precise information on this subject, Lord Hartington will be happy to supply it either from this department or by application to the Government of India. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Louis Mallet.

Enclosure 3 in No. 3. The Treasury to the Colonial Office. Sis,, — Treasury Chambers, sth August, 1879. I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 19th ultimo, wherein, by direction of the Secretary of State, you inform my Lords that an application has been received from the Governor of New South Wales for the supply of any official regulations which may exist relating to the conduct of Civil officers in this country, and particularly for the supply of copies of all regulations affecting different branches of the Civil Service, and of any special orders or instructions as to Civil servants acting as directors of banks or private companies, taking part in Parliamentary elections, or writing in political newspapers ; and also with copies of any law or regulation defining the position of any class of the Civil servants in relation to the right of voting for members of Parliament; and wherein you go on to request that Sir Michael Hicks Beach may be supplied with such information as may be in the possession of my Lords on these points, for transmission to the Governor of New South Wales. As the Secretary of State is, no doubt, aware, there does not exist any general code of regulations for the Civil Service as a body, the practice having been to leave to the several Ministers, or other authorities at the heads of the Executive Departments, great freedom as to the regulations which they think fit to prescribe for the government of their officers, all of whom, without distinction of rank, hold their offices at the pleasure of these same several authorities. As regards the conduct of Civil officers generally, it is hardly necessary to say that their character for the time being depends upon tradition and example far more than upon any artificial regulations, however skilfully they may be framed. No doubt, however, the practical independence of their tenure of office in the United Kingdom, combined with their legal tenure of it at pleasure only, is well calculated to create in them a spirit of self-respect and of obedience, which are among the most valuable features of a public service, and could not possibly exist in the same degree in such a service if its personnel changed with the Parliamentary Government of the day, or if promotion within its ranks were determined in any serious degree by considerations of party. The Service, being that of the Crown, is less affected in its collective interest by a change of Ministry than many —perhaps than most —other classes of society Another powerful element in determining the character of the Service is by the system of superannuation, whereby a Civil servant may be said to give bail for diligence and fidelity—at least to this extent, that his obtaining a pension at the end of his service depends upon his producing a certificate from the head of his department that he has been diligent and faithful in the discharge of his duty Fixed statutory conditions and scales of pension (which can only be increased for special service, or diminished for special demerit, and which are hardly ever raised in either direction) tend further, by the exclusion of favouritism and caprice, to impress the Civil Service with a respectable and stable character So far as conduct generally goes, my Lords are of opinion that a permanent and pensionable Civil Service offers the best guarantees for good behaviour, and the; think that the attention of the Colonial Government may be usefully drawn to the permanent character of the Imperial Civil Service, and to the Superannuation Acts of 1834 and 1859, the last (17th) section of which connects pensions with the certificates of the Civil Service Commissioners. The constitution of this Commission—an independent body, not changing with the Ministry of the day, and watching over the observance of the rules laid down for admission into the Civil Service —has a powerful effect in determining and maintaining its character, The last (twenty -