in marks according to their relative merit; the maximum of marks for each subject being fixed as follows, viz. :—

Marks.

400

400

400

200

200

Digesting Returns into Summaries

English Composition

200

Book-keeping.

Candidates will be at liberty to offer themselves for examination in any or all of these subjects. No subjects are obligatory.

A fee of 17. will be required from each candidate attending this examination.

*

*

5. The marks obtained by each candidate will be added up, and the [ ] candidates who shall have obtained a greater aggregate number of such marks than any of the remaining candidates will be deemed to be selected candidates, and will be entitled to be ] situations, employed on probation, each in one of the [ specified in the annexed Schedule,* which are now vacant or which may next become vacant; provided that he be duly qualified according to the special rules prescribed, under Clause IV. of Her Majesty's Order in Council of 4th June, 1870, for the particular situation to which he may be appropriated, as arranged in the following Regulation (6).

6. Subject to the last-mentioned condition, the particular Departments and situations to which the selected candidates may be respectively appointed will be determined by their own choice, exercised, while an alternative remains, by each in the order of his position on the list. Vacancies, as they occur, will be announced by the chiefs of the various Departments to the Civil Service Commissioners, who will communicate with the qualified candidates next in order of choice, and report the result to the Departments concerned. In case of a vacancy occurring in a Department for which no one on the list of selected candidates is in all respects qualified, the Civil Service Commissioners may either hold a special open competition for the appointment, or may

See note (*), page 8.

offer it to the candidate highest at the time on the list of selected candidates, subject to his passing a qualifying examination within such period as they may determine.

7. Every selected candidate, after being assigned to a Department, will enter on a period of probation, and he will not remain in the public service after six months from the date of his appointment, unless satisfactory proofs of his fitness shall have been furnished to the chief of such Department, and a certificate of his qualification shall have been issued by the Civil Service Commissioners.

SCHEDULE of DEPARTMENTS and SITUATIONS referred to in the

preceding Regulations (II).

**The number and nature of the appointments to be competed for will be announced as soon as the necessary arrangements have been made.

An Examination under Class II. has already been held, see below.

REGULATIONS FOR OPEN COMPETITIONS.

The following Abstract of Regulations refers to competitions already held under the Order in Council of 4th June, 1870, open freely, without any nomination or previous recommendation, to all who come within the published conditions in each case.

N.B.-Teachers trained at the public expense under the Education Office must, as a rule, repay the cost of their training.

Competition for Twenty Situations, Class II.

Examination held in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. Age, subjects, and fees according to General Regulations, page 8. The situations to be competed for were as follows, viz. :National Debt Office, 1 clerkship.

Dublin Metropolitan Police Courts, 2 clerkships.

Office of Works, 7 clerkships.

Adjutant-General's Office, 7 supplemental clerkships.

Constabulary (Ireland), 1 clerkship.

Inland Revenue, 1 clerkship in Receiver-General's Office.

Writers.

Examinations held every Thursday in London. There are also examinations in Dublin, Edinburgh, and various other towns, as required.

in marks according to their relative merit; the maximum of marks for each subject being fixed as follows, viz. :—

Candidates will be at liberty to offer themselves for examination in any or all of these subjects. No subjects are obligatory.

A fee of 17. will be required from each candidate attending this examination.

5. The marks obtained by each candidate will be added up, and

the [ * ] candidates who shall have obtained a greater aggregate

*

number of such marks than any of the remaining candidates will be deemed to be selected candidates, and will be entitled to be employed on probation, each in one of the [ ] situations, specified in the annexed Schedule,* which are now vacant or which may next become vacant; provided that he be duly qualified according to the special rules prescribed, under Clause IV. of Her Majesty's Order in Council of 4th June, 1870, for the particular situation to which he may be appropriated, as arranged in the following Regulation (6).

6. Subject to the last-mentioned condition, the particular Departments and situations to which the selected candidates may be respectively appointed will be determined by their own choice, exercised, while an alternative remains, by each in the order of his position on the list. Vacancies, as they occur, will be announced by the chiefs of the various Departments to the Civil Service Commissioners, who will communicate with the qualified candidates next in order of choice, and report the result to the Departments concerned. In case of a vacancy occurring in a Department for which no one on the list of selected candidates is in all respects qualified, the Civil Service Commissioners may either hold a special open competition for the appointment, or may

* See note (*), page 8.

offer it to the candidate highest at the time on the list of selected candidates, subject to his passing a qualifying examination within such period as they may determine.

7. Every selected candidate, after being assigned to a Department, will enter on a period of probation, and he will not remain in the public service after six months from the date of his appointment, unless satisfactory proofs of his fitness shall have been furnished to the chief of such Department, and a certificate of his qualification shall have been issued by the Civil Service Commissioners.

SCHEDULE OF DEPARTMENTS and SITUATIONS referred to in the

preceding Regulations (II).

**The number and nature of the appointments to be competed for will be announced as soon as the necessary arrangements have been made.

An Examination under Class II. has already been held, see below.

REGULATIONS FOR OPEN COMPETITIONS.

The following Abstract of Regulations refers to competitions already held under the Order in Council of 4th June, 1870, open freely, without any nomination or previous recommendation, to all who come within the published conditions in each case.

N.B.-Teachers trained at the public expense under the Education Office must, as a rule, repay the cost of their training.

Competition for Twenty Situations, Class II.

Examination held in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. Age,
subjects, and fees according to General Regulations, page 8.
The situations to be competed for were as follows, viz. :-
National Debt Office, 1 clerkship.

Dublin Metropolitan Police Courts, 2 clerkships.
Office of Works, 7 clerkships.

Adjutant-General's Office, 7 supplemental clerkships.

Constabulary (Ireland), 1 clerkship.

Inland Revenue, 1 clerkship in Receiver-General's Office.

Writers.

Examinations held every Thursday in London. There are also examinations in Dublin, Edinburgh, and various other towns, as required.

Men Writers may be of any age over 18. Fee, 5s. Their pay is 10d. an hour, or 11⁄2d. for copying each 100 words, except in special

cases.

Subjects of Examination.--Obligatory: Handwriting, Orthography, Elementary Arithmetic, Copying MS. Optional: Proportion, Practice, and Vulgar and Decimal Fractions.

Boy Writers, age 14 to 18. Fee, 2s. 6d. Pay, 4d. to 6d. an hour. Subjects of Examination.-Handwriting, Orthography, Arithmetic (Elementary).

A Register of those candidates who succeed in the examination is kept by the Civil Service Commissioners, who assign writers on the Register to such Departments as require their services. There may thus occur breaks in the course of employment, which is indeed stated to be purely temporary, but it would appear that, in fact, employment will be pretty constant.

Second-Class Assistants of Excise.

Examinations held in several towns in February for 80 situations, and in June for 60 situations.

Pay, 601. a year, and 2s. a day when actively employed. These officers are eligible for promotion to higher situations.

Age, 19 to 22. Candidates must be unmarried. Fee, 17. Subjects. Handwriting, 200 marks; Orthography, 200; Arithmetic, including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions, 300; English Composition, 200. It is necessary to "pass" in each subject.

Boy Clerks in the Post Office Savings Bank and Circulation

Department.

Examinations held in London on several days.

Pay.-Savings Bank, 307., rising by annual increments of 51. to 50l. a year. Circulation Department, 457., rising by annual increments of 107. to 80l. a year.

Age, 14 to 16. Candidates must live in or near London, and with parents or guardians.

Subjects. Preliminary: Adding correctly a column of figures, writing from dictation, and (for Circulation Department) Geography (elementary). Competitive: Dictation, Geography, Arithmetic, including Reduction, Rule of Three, and Practice.

The employment ceases when candidates attain the age of 19; but the Postmaster-General gives notice that he will consider applications from them to be appointed to the permanent establish