352 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART II
In the opinion of observers best qualified to form a
judgement, in practice there is some political influence in
reference to railway and civil servants, but it appears to be
on the whole within bounds. It is true that the Civil Service
Commissioners, who control the Civil Service independently
of the Government of the day, may be to some extent
subject to political influence, but in many cases they are
personally strong enough to be practically independent of
the Government, as probably was intended by the Public
Service Acts. The authority of a Public Service Commis-
sioner is often evaded by the creation of temporary appoint-
ments or by the use of the powers reserved to the Governor
in Council for exceptional cases, and the application of those
powers to everyday contingencies. But, on the other hand,
Ministries have seldom much margin of support, and
Governors are able to exercise considerable pressure. Again,
the public press has no special interest in the public service,
and is not likely to support it against all the other interests
which press for popular support. Moreover, with an expand-
ing population there is rapid promotion both in the Railway
and the Civil Service, and the competition of the Federal
Service makes conditions fairly satisfactory in the lower and
the intermediate grades, though in the higher grades salaries
are not adequate to attract the best men. The loss of the
franchise, so often advocated, is hardly effective, for it would
be difficult to disfranchise the wives, sons, and daughters
of the public servants, and impossible to disfranchise their
less immediate connexions and friends.
In South Africa the Civil Service was not specially treated,
as in Australia, until the Transvaal adopted in 1908 the
principle of a public service board which controlled all
appointments under £600 a year, the limit being fixed to
avoid undue formality with regard to selections for the higher
posts. In the Union Act certain arrangements are made
regarding the control of railways and harbours which will
have the effect of removing these services from the normal
governmental control. The coming of Union renders
necessary a complete reorganization, and the existing system
