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metho& of training, which have been recently modified, there
can be DO doubt t,hat this Report is conclusive as to the BUCC~ES
of examinational selection. The ability of the statements furnished
to this Report by officers appointed by open competition
goes far to prove the success of the system. It is impoasiblo
to imngino a severer test than that systenl has passed through
in the c w of the Indian Civil Service. Young men selected for
the amount of Lntin, Greek, Mathematics, Fronch, German,
Logic, Political Economy, nnd EO forth, which they could
#I cram up,” have been sent out at twenty-one or twenty-three
years of age, and thrown at once into a new world, where it
is difficult to imngine that their ‘( crammed” knowledge could
be of the least direct use. Thcro they Imvc been brought into
C.,lltact wit11 n luge body of older officers, appointed under R
different system, and littla prejudiced in favour of theso
‘( Compc+ition 7Bttllal1s.” Yet tho evidcnco is overwholming
to the effect tlmt tllcsc victims of “ CIXRI ” hnvc been succcvaful
in govcrnitlg Iudia. A 1nr.g~ number of tho best appointments
have alrcdy been secured by t,llern, although the system has
only been in esistencc for twenty-two years, and seniority is
nnturnlly of much account. 1’110 number who are failures is
very small, cerhinly smaller than it would be under the
patronage system. It is inlpossiblo that I should, within the
limits of this article, present the evidence accumulated on this
subject. I mnst refer the reader to tho Blue Book itself, which
is full of interest for all concerned in education.* I must also
refer the wader to the rernarkably able essays on the subject
published by Mr. Alfred Cotterell Tupp, B.A., of ths Bengal
Civil Service,t to which essays I am indebted for some of my
ideas on this subject. Mr. Tupp gives a powerful answer to
the celebrated attack on tho competitive systcm contained in
the Edinburgh Review of April, 1874. He givcs statistical
tables and details concerning the careers of the men selwted
+ “The Selection and Training of Candidates for the Indian Clivi1
Service” (C. 1446) 1876. Price 3s. 6d.
t “The Indiaa Civil Service and the Competitive System : D Discussion
on the Examinations and the Training in England.” London :
R. W. Rrydges, 137, Gower Street. 1876.