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Meeting held November 22nd, 1894.
Present. His Honour Mr. Justice ACKROYD, Chairman.
Hon. C. P. CHATER.
Hon. J. J. KESWICK.
Mr. T. JACKSON.
Mr. T. SERCOMBE SMITH, (Secretary).
Hon. F. A. COOPER called.
The CHAIRMAN. -You no doubt know, Mr. COOPER, that this is a Committee appointed at the request, I believe, of the Unofficial Members of Government to see what retrenchment we could make in the various departments and what saving we could effect in the expenditure of the Colony. We have held over the examination into your department because you and Mr. CHATHAM were away. We should like now to hear your views on the subject of your own department, the number of officers, their work, salary, and so on.
Hon. F. A. COOPER.-I have asked to have sent to you a report on the minimum staff required for efficiently performing the duties of my department. This report was written on the 16th September, 1892, and is contained in Colonial Office Despatch No. 203 of 1892. In that report I recommended, when vacancies occur, that the office of Correspondence Clerk should be abolished, subject to the Accountant being a European and holding the title of Office Assistant, amalgamating the duties of Correspondence Clerk and Accountant. In place of the Correspondence Clerk, I proposed that another clerk should be appointed at a reduced salary. This clerk to undertake many of the duties now performed by the Accountant in looking after the proper keeping of the books and performing details of work which the Accountant has hitherto done, because, when the Accountant is placed in charge of the accounts and correspondence, he will not have time to devote his attention to details. I also proposed that, when a vacancy occurred in the appointment of Chinese Draftsman, the salary should be reduced.
The present Draftsman, Mr. SING QUA, has been in the department a long time and his salary has been raised from time to time. It is now $1,080 a year and I proposed the maximum of $720 for his successor. The post of Office Assistant, which amalgamated the two offices of Accountant and Correspondence Clerk, I proposed should have $3,000 as a maximum, the Accountant and Correspondence Clerk drawing each a salary of $2,400 at the present time. I may say that the Correspondence Clerk has resigned during my absence and Mr. Wood has been appointed Office Assistant. But as yet no clerk has been appointed, as I recommended, at a salary of $1,200. I further recommended that the office of Superintendent of Crown Lands should be abolished, and that in place of the Superintendent of Crown Lands and the Land Surveyor two Land Surveyors should be appointed at salaries of $2,500 and $2,400 respectively. The other recommenda- tions have all taken effect as officers have resigned or been pensioned, and the staff now is below the minimum I then recommended. I represented the matter to the Govern- ment the other day and the papers have been forwarded for the information of the Com- mittee. I am of opinion that the Clerk in Mr. RENNIE's place should be appointed.
Q.
You have no other recommendations to make?
A. No, not as regards staff. I do not know whether the Committee is going to consider the question of individual salaries.
Q.-We want first of all to see what your staff is, what are their duties and whether some of them could not be dispensed with? Whom have you under you now? Could you give us their names and shortly their work?
A. By reference to the Colonial Estimates you will see that the staff has been arranged under various headings, Engineers, Surveyors, Clerks, etc. I propose to follow the arrangement in the Estimates. The Executive Engineer first on the list is Mr. CHATHAM.
Q.-And what has he to do?
A.—He is now in charge of Extraordinary Public Works.
Q.-What are they?
A.-Those at present in progress are the Central Market, the Waterworks in Kowloon, the Pig and Sheep Depôt and the Gaol Extension. He is also in charge of the preparation of the plan for the extension of Tytam Reservoir. Of course any extra- ordinary public works proposed are forwarded to me for report, and many of the details required are worked out by Mr. CHATHAM,
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