Colonial civil-service exams evaluated moral character alongside technical skill

Evidence

Entrance exams for the Indies civil service, like those for the British in India, measured character as much as bookkeeping skills—“self-denial, diligence, temperance and self-control” were coveted bureaucratic traits. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 402

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early-nineteenth-century bar exams were social formalities, not gatekeeping — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 642