as for men,
and is as follows:--

Lower Grade L60, rising by increments of L5
per annum to L105.
Higher Grade L110, rising by increments of
L5 per annum to L150.

There are also a few higher appointments. Women are, however, under
a particular disability in that they must wait for a vacancy in the
Higher Grade before passing on beyond L105, whilst in the case of
the Men Clerks there is no such stoppage, officers being allowed to
proceed straight on, if certified efficient.

It will, no doubt, have been observed that the post of Women Clerk is
the highest in the Service open to women by competitive examination,
and with the exception of some sixteen or eighteen appointments in the
Board of Education, Women Clerks have hitherto been recruited for the
Post Office alone. They are now being recruited from this examination
for the National Health Insurance Commissions. The exclusion of Women
Clerks from the numerous State Departments such as the Home Office,
Local Government Board, Inland Revenue, etc., is mainly traditional,
as they are not excluded by the wording of the Order in Council of
10th January 1910 (paragraph 5, Part I.) which states that

"all appointments ... shall be made by means of competitive
examinations according to regulations framed, or
to be from time to time framed by the Commissioners,
and approved by the Treasury, _open to all persons_(of the
requisite age, health, character, and other qualifications
prescribed in the said regulations) who may be desirous
of attending the same...."

In this passage the word "persons" is interpreted to mean men only,
but as other professions are yielding to the pressure of modern
economic conditions and are opening their doors to women, it is
time that the State considered the advisability of profiting by the
services of women eminently fitted to perform clerical, organising,
and administrative duties, many of whom may possess the special
qualifications needed for the work in various Government Departments.

The present limitation of the employment of women, and their lack of
prospects of advancement constitutes a serious grievance. Whilst many
avenues are open to men to improve their condition in the early years
of service, if they possess the necessary ability and enterprise,
women have no such opportunities, and have practically no chance of
advancement except by way of supervision in their own grade. Moreover,
if we l