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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fourteen B of Considerations on Representative Government. This LibriVox

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<v Speaker 1>recording is in the public domain. Considerations on Representative Government

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<v Speaker 1>by John Stuart Mill, Chapter fourteen B. Other reasons make

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<v Speaker 1>it desirable that some power in the state, which can

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<v Speaker 1>only be the executive, should have the liberty of it

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<v Speaker 1>any time and at discretion, calling a new parliament when

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<v Speaker 1>there is a real doubt which of two contending parties

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<v Speaker 1>has the strongest following, it is important that there should

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<v Speaker 1>exist a constitutional means of immediately testing the point and

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<v Speaker 1>setting it at rest. No other political topic has a

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<v Speaker 1>chance of being properly attended to while this is undecided,

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<v Speaker 1>and such an interval is mostly an interregnum for purposes

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<v Speaker 1>of legislative or administrative improvement, neither party having sufficient confidence

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<v Speaker 1>in its strength to attempt things likely to provoke opposition

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<v Speaker 1>in any quarter that has either direct or indirect influence

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<v Speaker 1>in the pending bad struggle. I have not taken account

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<v Speaker 1>of the case in which the vast power centralized in

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<v Speaker 1>the Chief Magistrate, and the insufficient attachment of the mass

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<v Speaker 1>of the people to free institutions give him a chance

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<v Speaker 1>of success in an attempt to subvert the Constitution, and

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<v Speaker 1>usurp sovereign power. Where such peril exists, no first magistrate

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<v Speaker 1>is admissible, whom the Parliament cannot, by a single vote

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<v Speaker 1>reduced to a private station in a state of things,

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<v Speaker 1>holding out any encouragement to that most audacious and prolificate

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<v Speaker 1>of all breaches of trust. Even this entireness of constitutional

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<v Speaker 1>dependence is but a weak protection of all officers of government.

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<v Speaker 1>Those in whose appointment any participation of popular suffrage is

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<v Speaker 1>the most objectionable are judicial officers. While there are no

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<v Speaker 1>functionaries whose special and professional qualifications the popular judgment is

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<v Speaker 1>less fitted to estimate, there are none in whose case

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<v Speaker 1>absolute impartiality and freedom from connection with politicians or sections

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<v Speaker 1>of politicians are of anything like equal importance. Some thinkers,

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<v Speaker 1>among others mister Bentham, have been of opinion that, although

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<v Speaker 1>it is better that judges should not be appointed by

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<v Speaker 1>popular election, the people of their district ought to have

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<v Speaker 1>the power after sufficient experience, of removing them from their trust.

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<v Speaker 1>It cannot be denied that the irremovability of any public

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<v Speaker 1>officer to whom great interests are entrusted is in itself

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<v Speaker 1>an evil. It is far from desirable that there should

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<v Speaker 1>be no means of getting rid of a bad or

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<v Speaker 1>incompetent judge unless for such misconduct as he can be

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<v Speaker 1>made to answer for in a criminal court, And that

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<v Speaker 1>a functionary on whom so much depends should have the

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<v Speaker 1>feeling of being free from responsibility except to opinion and

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<v Speaker 1>his own conscience. The question, however, is whether, in the

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<v Speaker 1>peculiar position of a judge, and supposing that all practicable

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<v Speaker 1>securities have been taken for an honesty appointment, irresponsibility except

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<v Speaker 1>to his own and the public conscience, has not, on

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<v Speaker 1>the whole less tendency to pervert his conduct than responsibility

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<v Speaker 1>to the government or to a popular vote. Experience has

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<v Speaker 1>long decided this point in the affirmative as regards responsibility

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<v Speaker 1>to the executive, and the case is quite equally strong

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<v Speaker 1>when the responsibility sought to be enforced is to the

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<v Speaker 1>suffrages of electors. Among the good qualities of a popular constituency,

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<v Speaker 1>those peculiarly incumbent upon a judge, calmness and impartiality are

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<v Speaker 1>not numbered happily in that intervention of popular suffrage which

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<v Speaker 1>is essential to freedom. They are not the qualities required

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<v Speaker 1>even the quality of justice, though necessary to all human beings,

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore to all electors is not the inducement which

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<v Speaker 1>decides any popular election. Justice and impartiality are as little

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<v Speaker 1>wanted for electing a member of Parliament as they can

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<v Speaker 1>be in any transaction of men. Electors have not to

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<v Speaker 1>award something which either candidate has a right to, nor

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<v Speaker 1>to pass judgment on the general merits of the competitors,

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<v Speaker 1>but to declare which of them has most of their

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<v Speaker 1>personal confidence or best represents their political convictions. A judge

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<v Speaker 1>is bound to treat his political friend or the person

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<v Speaker 1>best known to him exactly as he treats other people,

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<v Speaker 1>but it would be a breach of duty as well

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<v Speaker 1>as an absurdity if an elector did so. No argument

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<v Speaker 1>can be grounded on the beneficial effect produced on judges,

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<v Speaker 1>as on all other functionaries, by the moral jurisdiction of opinion.

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<v Speaker 1>For even in this respect, that which really exercises a

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<v Speaker 1>useful control over the proceedings of a judge when fit

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<v Speaker 1>for the judicial office, is not, except sometimes in political cases,

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<v Speaker 1>the opinion of the community generally, but that of the

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<v Speaker 1>only public by whom his conduct or qualifications can be

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<v Speaker 1>duly estimated. The bar of his own court I must

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<v Speaker 1>not be understood to say that the participation of the

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<v Speaker 1>general public in the administration of justice is of no importance.

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<v Speaker 1>It is of the greatest, but in what manner, by

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<v Speaker 1>the actual discharge of a part of the judicial office

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<v Speaker 1>in the capacity of jurymen. This is one of the

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<v Speaker 1>few cases in politics in which it is better that

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<v Speaker 1>the people should act directly and personally than through their representatives,

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<v Speaker 1>being almost the only case in which the errors that

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<v Speaker 1>a person exercising authority may commit can be better born

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<v Speaker 1>than the consequences of making him responsible for them. If

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<v Speaker 1>a judge could be removed from office by a popular vote,

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<v Speaker 1>whoever was desirous of supplanting him, would make capital for

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<v Speaker 1>that purpose out of all his judicial decisions, would carry

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<v Speaker 1>all of them, as far as he found practicable by

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<v Speaker 1>irregular appeal before a public opinion, wholly incompetent for want

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<v Speaker 1>of having heard the case or from having heard it,

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<v Speaker 1>without either the precautions or the impartiality belonging to a

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<v Speaker 1>judicial hearing, would play upon popular passion and prejudice where

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<v Speaker 1>they existed, and take pains to arouse them where they

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<v Speaker 1>did not. And in this if the case were interesting,

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<v Speaker 1>and he took sufficient trouble he would infallibly be successful

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<v Speaker 1>unless the judge areous friends descended into the arena and

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<v Speaker 1>made equally powerful appeals. On the other side, judges would

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<v Speaker 1>end by feeling that they risked their office upon every

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<v Speaker 1>decision they gave in a case susceptible of general interest,

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<v Speaker 1>and that it was less essential for them to consider

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<v Speaker 1>what decision was just than what would be most applauded

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<v Speaker 1>by the public or would least admit of insidious misrepresentation.

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<v Speaker 1>The practice introduced by some of the new or revised

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<v Speaker 1>state constitutions in America of submitting judicial officers to periodical

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<v Speaker 1>popular re election will be found, I apprehend to be

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most dangerous errors ever yet committed by democracy.

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<v Speaker 1>And were it not that the practical good sense, which

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<v Speaker 1>never totally deserts the people of the United States, is

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<v Speaker 1>said to be producing a reaction likely in no long

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<v Speaker 1>time to lead to the retraction of the error, it

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<v Speaker 1>might with reason be regarded as the first great downward

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<v Speaker 1>step in the degeneration of modern democratic government. With regard

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<v Speaker 1>to that large and important body which constitutes the permanent

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<v Speaker 1>strength of the public service, those who do not change

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<v Speaker 1>with changes of politics, but remain to aid every minister,

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<v Speaker 1>by their experience and traditions, inform him by their knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>of business and conduct official details under his general control.

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<v Speaker 1>Those in short, who form the class of professional public servants,

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<v Speaker 1>entering their profession as others do while young, in the

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<v Speaker 1>hope of rising progressively to its higher grades as they

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<v Speaker 1>advance in life. It is evidently inadmissible that these should

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<v Speaker 1>be liable to be turned out and deprived of the

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<v Speaker 1>whole benefit of their previous service, except for positive, proved

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<v Speaker 1>and serious misconduct. Not, of course, such delinquency only as

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<v Speaker 1>makes them amenable to the law, but voluntary neglect of

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<v Speaker 1>duty or conduct implying untrustworthiness for the purposes for which

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<v Speaker 1>their trust is given them. Since therefore, unless in case

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<v Speaker 1>of personal culpability, there is no way of getting rid

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<v Speaker 1>of them except by quartering them on the public as pensioners.

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<v Speaker 1>It is of the greatest importance that the appointments should

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<v Speaker 1>be well made in the first instance, and it remains

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<v Speaker 1>to be considered by what mode of appointment this purpose

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<v Speaker 1>can best be attained. In making first appointments, little danger

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<v Speaker 1>is to be apprehended from want of special skill and

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge in the choosers, but much from partiality and private

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<v Speaker 1>or political interest. Being all appointed at the commencement of manhood,

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<v Speaker 1>not as having learned, but in order that they may

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<v Speaker 1>learn their profession. The only thing by which the best

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<v Speaker 1>candidates can be discriminated is proficiency in the ordinary branches

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<v Speaker 1>of liberal education, and this can be ascertained without difficulty,

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<v Speaker 1>provided there be the requisite pains and the requisite impartiality,

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<v Speaker 1>and those who are appointed to inquire into it. Neither

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<v Speaker 1>the one nor the other can reasonably be expected from

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<v Speaker 1>a minister who must rely wholly on recommendations, and, however

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<v Speaker 1>disinterested as to his personal wishes, never will be proof

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<v Speaker 1>against the solicitations of persons who have the power of

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<v Speaker 1>influencing his own election, or whose political adherence is important

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<v Speaker 1>to the ministry to which he belongs. These considerations have

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<v Speaker 1>introduced the practice of submitting all candidates for first appointments

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<v Speaker 1>to a public examination conducted by persons not engaged in

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<v Speaker 1>politics and of the same class in quality with the

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<v Speaker 1>examiners for honors at the universities. This would probably be

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<v Speaker 1>the best plan under any system, and under our parliamentary

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<v Speaker 1>government it is the only one which affords a chance.

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<v Speaker 1>I do not say of honest appointment, but even of

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<v Speaker 1>abstinence from such as are manifestly and flagrantly profligate. It

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<v Speaker 1>is also absolutely necessary that the examination should be competitive,

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<v Speaker 1>and the appointments given to those who are most successful.

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<v Speaker 1>A mere pass examination never, in the long run, does

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<v Speaker 1>more than exclude absolute dunces. When the question in the

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<v Speaker 1>mind of an examiner lies between blighting the prospects of

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<v Speaker 1>an individual and performing a duty to the public, which

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<v Speaker 1>in the particular instance seldom appears of first rate importance,

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<v Speaker 1>and when he is sure to be bitterly reproached for

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<v Speaker 1>doing the first, while in general no one will either

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<v Speaker 1>know or care whether he is done the latter. The

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<v Speaker 1>balance unless he is a man of very unusual stamp

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<v Speaker 1>inclines to the side of good nature. A relaxation in

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<v Speaker 1>one instance establishes a claim to it in others, which

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<v Speaker 1>every repetition of indulgence makes it more difficult to resist.

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<v Speaker 1>Each of these, in succession becomes a precedent for more,

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<v Speaker 1>until the standard of proficiency sinks gradually to something almost contemptible.

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<v Speaker 1>Examinations for degrees at the Too Great universeversities have generally

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<v Speaker 1>been as slender in their requirements as those for honors

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<v Speaker 1>are trying and serious. Where there is no inducement to

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<v Speaker 1>exceed a certain minimum, the minimum comes to be the maximum.

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<v Speaker 1>It becomes the general practice not to aim at more.

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<v Speaker 1>And as in everything, there are some who do not

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<v Speaker 1>attain all they aim at. However low the standard may

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<v Speaker 1>be pitched, there are always several who fall short of it. When,

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<v Speaker 1>on the contrary, the appointments are given to those among

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<v Speaker 1>a great number of candidates who most distinguish themselves, and

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<v Speaker 1>where the successful competitors are classed in order of merit,

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<v Speaker 1>not only each is stimulated to do his very utmost,

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<v Speaker 1>but the influence is felt in every place of liberal

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<v Speaker 1>education throughout the country. It becomes with every schoolmaster an

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<v Speaker 1>object of ambition and an avenue to success to have

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<v Speaker 1>furnished pupils who have gained a high place in these competitions.

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<v Speaker 1>And there is hardly any other mode in which the

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<v Speaker 1>state can do so much to raise the quality of

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<v Speaker 1>educational institutions throughout the country. Though the principle of competitive

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<v Speaker 1>examinations for public employment is of such recent introduction in

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<v Speaker 1>this country and is still so imperfectly carried out, the

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<v Speaker 1>Indian service being as yet nearly the only case in

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<v Speaker 1>which it exists. In its completeness, a sensible effect has

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<v Speaker 1>already begun to be produced on the places of middle

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<v Speaker 1>class education, notwithstanding the difficulties which the principle has encountered

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<v Speaker 1>from the disgracefully low existing state of education in the country,

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<v Speaker 1>which these very examinations have brought into strong light. So

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<v Speaker 1>contemptible has the standard of acquirement been found to be

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<v Speaker 1>among the youths who obtained the nomination from the minister

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<v Speaker 1>which entitles them to offer themselves as candidates, that the

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<v Speaker 1>competition of such candidates produces almost a poorer result than

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<v Speaker 1>would be obtained from a mere pass examination, for no

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<v Speaker 1>one would think of fixing the conditions of a pass

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<v Speaker 1>examination so low as is actually found sufficient to enable

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<v Speaker 1>a young man to surpass his fellow candidates. Accordingly, it

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<v Speaker 1>is said that successive years show on the whole a

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<v Speaker 1>decline of attainments, less effort being made because the results

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<v Speaker 1>of former examinations have proved that the exertions then used

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<v Speaker 1>were greater than would have been sufficient to attain the object.

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<v Speaker 1>Partly from this decrease of effort, and partly because even

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<v Speaker 1>at the examinations which do not require a previous nomination,

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<v Speaker 1>conscious ignorance reduces the number of competitors to a mere handful.

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<v Speaker 1>It has so happened that, though there have always been

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<v Speaker 1>a few instances of great proficiency, the lower part of

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<v Speaker 1>the list of successful candidates represents but a very moderate

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<v Speaker 1>amount of acquirement. And we have it on the word

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<v Speaker 1>of the Commissioners that nearly all who have been unsuccessful

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<v Speaker 1>have owed their failure to ignorance, not of the higher

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<v Speaker 1>branches of instruction, but of its very humblest elements, spelling

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<v Speaker 1>and arithmetic. The outcries which continue to be made against

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<v Speaker 1>these examinations by some of the organs of opinion are often,

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<v Speaker 1>I regret to say, as little creditable to the good

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<v Speaker 1>faith as to the good sense of the assailants. They

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<v Speaker 1>proceed mostly by misrepresentation of the kind of ignorance which,

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<v Speaker 1>as a matter of fact, actually leads to failure in

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<v Speaker 1>the examinations. They quote with emphasis the most recondite questions

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<v Speaker 1>which can be shown to have been ever asked, and

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<v Speaker 1>make it appear as if unexceptionable answers to all these

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<v Speaker 1>were made the sinequa nun of success. Yet it has

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<v Speaker 1>been repeated to satiety that such questions are not put

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<v Speaker 1>because it is expected of every one that he should

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<v Speaker 1>answer them, but in order that whoever is able to

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<v Speaker 1>do so, may have the means of proving and availing

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<v Speaker 1>himself of that portion of his knowledge. It is not

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<v Speaker 1>as a ground of rejection, but as an additional means

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<v Speaker 1>of success, that this opportunity is given. We are then

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<v Speaker 1>asked whether the kind of knowledge supposed in this, that

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<v Speaker 1>or the other question is calculated to be of any

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<v Speaker 1>use to the candidate. After he has attained his object

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<v Speaker 1>people differ greatly in opinion as to what knowledge is useful.

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<v Speaker 1>There are persons in existence, and a late foreign Secretary

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<v Speaker 1>of State is one of them who think English spelling

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<v Speaker 1>a useless accomplishment in a diplomatic attachee or a clerk

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<v Speaker 1>in a government office. About one thing, the objectors seem

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<v Speaker 1>to be unanimous that general mental cultivation is not useful

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<v Speaker 1>in these employments, whatever else may be. So. If, however,

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<v Speaker 1>as I presume to think it is useful, or if

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<v Speaker 1>any education at all is useful, it must be tested

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<v Speaker 1>by the tests most likely to show whether the candidate

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<v Speaker 1>possesses it or not. To ascertain whether he has been

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<v Speaker 1>well educated, he must be interrogated in the things which

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<v Speaker 1>he is likely to know if he has been well educated,

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<v Speaker 1>even though not directly pertinent to the work to which

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<v Speaker 1>he is to be appointed. Will those who object to

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<v Speaker 1>his being questioned in classics and mens mathematics tell us

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<v Speaker 1>what they would have him questioned in. There seems, however,

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<v Speaker 1>to be equal objection to examining him in these and

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<v Speaker 1>to examining him in anything but these. If the commissioners

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<v Speaker 1>anxious to open a door of admission to those who

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<v Speaker 1>have not gone through the routine of a grammar school,

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<v Speaker 1>or who make up for the smallness of their knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>of what is there taught by greater knowledge of something else,

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<v Speaker 1>allow marks to be gained by proficiency in any other

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<v Speaker 1>subject of real utility, they are reproached for that too.

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing will satisfy the objectors but free admission of total ignorance.

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<v Speaker 1>We are triumphantly told that neither Clive nor Wellington could

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<v Speaker 1>have passed the test which is prescribed for an aspirant

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<v Speaker 1>to an engineer cadet ship, as if because Clive and

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<v Speaker 1>Wellington did not do what was not required of them,

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<v Speaker 1>they could not have done it if it had been required.

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<v Speaker 1>If it be only meant to inform us that it

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<v Speaker 1>is possible to be a great general without these things.

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<v Speaker 1>So it is without many other things which are very

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<v Speaker 1>useful to great generals. Alexander the Great had never heard

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<v Speaker 1>of Vauban's rules, nor could Julius Caesar speak French. We

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<v Speaker 1>are next informed that bookworms, a term which seems to

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<v Speaker 1>be held applicable to whoever has the smallest tincture of

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<v Speaker 1>book knowledge, may not be good at bodily exercises or

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<v Speaker 1>have the habits of gentlemen. This is a very common

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<v Speaker 1>line of remark with dunces of condition. But whatever the

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<v Speaker 1>dunces may think, they have no monopoly of either gentlemanly

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<v Speaker 1>habits or bodily activity. Wherever these are needed, let them

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<v Speaker 1>be inquired into and separately provided for, not to the

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<v Speaker 1>exclusion of mental qualifications. But in addition, meanwhile, I am

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<v Speaker 1>credibly informed that in the military Academy at Woolwich, the

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<v Speaker 1>competition cadets are as superior to those admitted on the

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<v Speaker 1>old system of nomination in these respects as in all others,

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<v Speaker 1>that they learn even their drill, more quickly, as indeed

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<v Speaker 1>might be expected, for an intelligent person learns all things

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<v Speaker 1>sooner than a stupid one, and that in general demeanor

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<v Speaker 1>they contrast so favorably with their predecessors, that the authorities

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<v Speaker 1>of the institutions are impatient for the day to arrive

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<v Speaker 1>when the last remains of the old leaven shall have

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<v Speaker 1>disappeared from the place. If this be so, and it

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<v Speaker 1>is easy to ascertain whether it is so, it is

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<v Speaker 1>to be hoped we shall soon have heard for the

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<v Speaker 1>last time that ignorance is a better qualification than knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>for the military, and a fortiori for every other profession,

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<v Speaker 1>or that any one good quality. However, little apparently connected

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<v Speaker 1>with liberal education is at all likely to be promoted

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<v Speaker 1>by going without it. Though the first admission to government

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<v Speaker 1>employment be decided by competitive examination, it would in most

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<v Speaker 1>cases be impossible that subsequent promotion should be so decided,

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<v Speaker 1>And it seems proper that this should take place, as

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<v Speaker 1>it usually does at present, on a mixed system of

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<v Speaker 1>seniority and selection. Those whose duties are of a routine

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<v Speaker 1>character should rise by seniority to the highest point to

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<v Speaker 1>which duties merely of that description can carry them, while

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<v Speaker 1>those to whom functions of particular trust and requiring special

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<v Speaker 1>capacity are confided should be selected from the body on

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<v Speaker 1>the discretion of the Chief of the office, and this

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<v Speaker 1>selection will generally be made honestly by him, if the

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<v Speaker 1>original appointments take place by open competition, for under that system,

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<v Speaker 1>his establishment will generally consist of individuals to whom, but

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<v Speaker 1>for the official connection, he would have been a stranger.

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<v Speaker 1>If among them there be any in whom he or

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<v Speaker 1>his political friends and supporters take an interest, it will

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<v Speaker 1>be but occasionally, and only when to this advantage of

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<v Speaker 1>connection is added, as far as the initiatory examination could

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<v Speaker 1>test it at least equality of real merit. And except

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<v Speaker 1>when there is a very strong motive to job these appointments,

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<v Speaker 1>there is always a strong one to appoint the fittest person,

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<v Speaker 1>being the one who gives to his chief the most

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<v Speaker 1>useful assistance, saves him most trouble and helps most to

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<v Speaker 1>build up that reputation for good management of public business,

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<v Speaker 1>which necessarily and properly rebound to the credit of the minister,

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<v Speaker 1>however much the qualities to which it is immediately owing

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<v Speaker 1>may be those of his subordinates. End of Chapter fourteen

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<v Speaker 1>B Recording by Bill Burst