72 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

word "layman" should not be another name for ignoramus;
similarly, "expert" should not mean someone who cannot under-
stand anything except his own Department. A little more than
a hundred years ago Departments could be found which were
run by hidebound officials under the nominal control of a country
gentleman who had taken up the work of Government because
it was the custom of his family. This sort of lay and expert
alliance is useless; if the partnership is to be fruitful, layman and
expert must always try to approach one another. The Civil
Servant must know, or know where to find, all the relevant
facts; his chief must be able to understand the facts when they
are put before him.

A NON-PARTISAN SERVICE.

Only a limited number of Civil Servants come into such
close contact with Ministers. There remains a mass of routine
work—answering letters, sending out forms, tabulating replies,
copying documents. Civil Servants from the highest to the
lowest grade thus perform work which must be done for what-
ever party is in power. If the people are to be sure that the
Government they choose will carry out their wishes, then the Civil
Service must be efficient and must give equally good service to all
parties. Regulations are made to protect Civil Servants from the
least suspicion of party bias; they are forbidden to stand at any
election for a public body or to take any open part in political
argument. For the higher grades of the Civil Service this seems
reasonable. Relations between a Chancellor of the Exchequer
and a high Treasury official might be difficult if the latter were
just about to oppose his chief at an election. There is less reason,
however, in restricting the activities of clerks and postmen, and
the regulations are sometimes quietly ignored. In return for this*
restriction on his liberty, the Civil Servant gets security in his
post. Legally Jhe is a servant of the Crown and can be dismissed
at a moment's notice; in practice his job is safer than any.other.
This contradiction has two useful results. The practical security'