In the British Empire

Ø 1) Read this text and do task 1 for text 5.3.

Great Britain attempted to create efficient administrative machinery because of its commitment to govern India and to avoid periodic scandals there. In 1764, a new code of practice was introduced. It prohibited British servants of the East India Company from trading or from accepting gifts from native traders in India. Simultaneously the salaries of civil servants were substantially increased, promotion by seniority was introduced, and the higher echelons of administration were reorganized.

Recruitment to civil service was carried on by the company in London. After 1813 entrants to the civil service had to study the history, language, and laws of India for four terms at Haileybury College, England, and to obtain a certificate of good conduct before taking up their posts. New rules of 1833 said that there should be four candidates for each vacancy and that they had to compete with one another in a special examination.

However, there was further criticism of the way India was run, and in 1853 another legislative reform of the administration was proposed. The experience of the Indian Civil Service influenced the foundation of the modern civil service in the United Kingdom. A report on the organization of the Permanent Civil Service in Britain was published in 1854. The principal author of that report, Sir Charles Trevelyan, had been searching out corruption in the Indian Civil Service during 14 years of service there.

The report of 1854 recommended the abolition of patronage and recruitment by open competitive examination. It further recommended:

· the establishment of an autonomous semi-judicial body of civil service commis­sioners to recruit candidates to official posts properly,

· the division of the work of the civil service into intellectual and routine work. The two sets of offices were recommended to have separate forms of recruitment, and

· the selection of higher civil servants more decidedly on the basis of general intellectual attainment than specialized knowledge.

The Civil Service Commission was established in 1855, and during the next 30 years patronage was gradually eliminated. The two original classes (intellectual and routine) were increased to four, and some specialized branches were combined into the Scientific Civil Service. The new civil service managed to attract to its senior levels highly capable, discreet, and self-effacing university graduates. Graduates of Oxford and Cambridge became – and remain to the present – especially prominent in the ranks of senior civil servants in Britain.

Ø 2) Explain what these proper names denote: Sir Charles Trevelyan, Haileybury College, the East India Company, Oxford and Cambridge.

Ø 3) Say what these dates and numerals refer to: 1764, four candidates, 1854, during 14 years of service, 1855, four classes.

Ø 4) Make a detailed plan of the text.

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