H.—l4

10

the announcement was made in the Financial Statement that a Committee of Civil servants appointed to investigate had presented a confidential report, and that a scheme of classification for the Civil Service was being adopted by the Government. The main feature of the classification appears to have been the fixing of scales of increments with the object, it was stated, "of placing Civil servants to some extent beyond the reach of caprice." Progress by annual £10 increments to £120 per annum was provided for cadets, but an examination bar (the only one contemplated in the scheme) was placed at £80. The only gain in economy from the classification itself was held to be in the inducements it held out to the best men to remain in the Service. For new entrants into the Service it was provided that the previously existing practice in regard to compensation for loss of office should be altered in the direction of economy, and immediate advantages in the way of inducements to zeal and excellence given instead. A gradual introduction covering several years was proposed for the scheme ; the extra cost being estimated to be £6,500 for the first year and £10,000 for subsequent years, with a gradual reduction thereafter. From the scope of the classification the Legislative Department, the Prisons Department, and the Railways were to be excluded. The proposal was not proceeded with. Another Departmental Board was set up in 1906, but, after collecting a great deal of information, the work was abandoned. The Post and Telegraph Classification and Regulation Act was passed in 1890. This measure provided for the division of the Post and Telegraph service into classes, and the Act was brought into force in the following year, when the first classification of the Department was made. By an amendment of 1891 the schedule was altered to provide, among other things, that the Sixth Class should run without a break from £115 to £180, instead of the arrangement of two grades—£lls to £150 and £160 to £180—provided under the Act of 1890. The Act of 1894, entitled " The Post and Telegraph Department Act," further amended the schedule and provided for the constitution of a Board of Appeal, two members out of the four of which were to consist of representatives elected by officers of the Department. An amendment of the Act in 1906 provided an improved scale for the Sixth Class of the Clerical Division and for certain classes of the Non-clerical Division. The first classification of the Railway Department resulted from the Government Railways Department Classification Act of 1896, and came into operation from the Ist April, 1897. The Act included complete schedules fixing the salaries of all officers of the Department, both First and Second Divisions. Provision was made for the setting-up of an Appeal Board of two members elected by the respective divisions, and of a Judge of the District Court appointed to act as Chairman. The amending Act of 1897 provided an increased rate for apprentices and carpenters. The Act of 1901 repealed the former Acts, and amongst its most important provisions required the alteration of the form of nominal roll issued, the names thereafter being placed according to salaries alone and irrespective of position. Amongst the advantages given by this Act were (1) the abolition of percentage restrictions upon the number of officers who could be placed in the higher grades of the First Division, and (2) the increase of maximum in the lowest grade of that division from £140 to £180 per annum. The Act of 1907 substituted still another scale for that previously in force. Under it the position of cadets was improved, and the maximum for clerks of the lowest grade was further increased to £200 per annum. Since 1907 minor amendments have been made (three in all), each of which resulted in material improvement in pay for members of both First and Second Divisions. There was no further amendment of the Post and Telegraph classification until 1907, when the schedule was considerably improved by Parliament in favour of officers. The schedule remained in force until the Ist April last, when the Post and Telegraph classification became merged in that of the rest of the Public Service. In 1907 Parliament passed a comprehensive measure relating to the classification of the Public Service other than the Post and Telegraph and Railway Departments, and also provided for the superannuation of public officers. Under this Act a Board consisting of a Minister of the Crown and permanent heads of Departments, not exceeding ten in number, was provided for and set up shortly afterwards. The Board submitted its proposed classification in 1912, but the Government of the day did not proceed further in the matter.