346 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [parr 1I 
having a permanent Civil Service. In 1857 steps were taken 
by the Parliament of the united Canada to organize a service 
with permanent deputy heads and grades, and on federation 
further Acts were passed to deal with the Civil Service of the 
Dominion. In 1882 a long Act was passed which regulated 
for many years the position. 
The defects of the whole plan were brought out very 
clearly in 1908, when after much pressure from the Opposition 
the Commission which had been appointed to inquire into 
the situation presented their report.! It was severely 
criticized in many respects, especially by the Minister of 
Defence, who brought out in reply a very ably written 
report by General Lake,? in which he controverted the attacks 
made by the Commission on the large head-quarters staff of 
220 officers for the management of a force which consisted 
of only about 3,000 permanent men, and which drilled some 
40,000 militia annually. But the weight of the report was 
beyond doubt, and the points which it criticized were so 
wrong in principle that it would be impossible to defend 
them on any evidence. It appeared that nomination from 
a list of qualified candidates was the order of the day, that 
such nominations were political jobs, and that after appoint- 
ment success depended on further political influence : there 
was little regular promotion, and all the best posts were 
reserved by ministers for rewarding their friends, with 
the result that the service was utterly disorganized—the 
members of the service who owed their posts to political 
nominations being indifferent to discipline. Moreover, the 
Commission reported that salaries were too low, and de- 
plored the repeal of the old superannuation arrangements, 
recommending that they should be renewed, and provision 
made for the supply of pensions to widows and children. 
They also criticized in the freest manner the administration 
of the Marine Department, and made allegations of dishonest 
conduct with regard to the officials. 
Civil Service reform accordingly was introduced in 1908 
in anticipation of the general election, as public feeling had 
t Sce Uanadian Annual Review, 1908, pp. 86 seq. * bid, pp. 91-3.