"During the past few years many a budding barrister has entered the West African Colonial Service as a District Commissioner with the laudable ambition of blossoming forth -always supposing that he survived the perils of the climate--into a puisne judge, or at least an attorney-general or solicitor-general, The hope deferred that maketh the heart sick has caused one of these exiles from the Temple to unburden himself of a jeremiad
on
the vagaries of promotion in the Service The substance of it is that favouritism is rife in the filling up of berths which ought to be the reward of merit alone, and, in particular, that outsiders are often presented with the plums which ought to fall to the men already in the Service. My cor- respondent mentions several cases that have occurred in different Colonies, including two in which the Private Secretary to a Governor- one in the Gold Coast Colony, the other in Lagos-has received an appointment. With a praiseworthy des re to check jobbery, the Colonial Office rules and regulations lay down some excellent principles for the guidance of Governors in making or recommending appoint- .ments. One rule sets forth that appointments of gentlemen connected with the governor, or who have accompanied him to the colony as private secretaries or otherwise are open to mech objection. Another states that His Majesty will be advised to regard more favourably appointments which are in the nature of pro- motion for meritorious public servants than appointments made in favor of persons new to the public service. In view of the facts that have been brought before me, it is clearly time the Colonial Secretary insisted upon a closer observance of the spirit and the letter of these regulations. Although considerable depen- dence must necessarily be placed upon the . recommendations of the Governor, as the man on the spot, the final responsibility for every anpointment of any importance rests with the Colonial Secretary, as it is his business to take care that openings for official promotions are .not utilised for the practice of gubernatorial
jobbery"
We reiterate the hope that in Hongkong also a little more of the interpretation and practical application of the "spirit and letter" of the Colonial Office regulations might be put into effect to the benefit of the Colony, and Colonial appointments will then not be open to so much criticism on the part of the Press and the public. There has been enough of the farce of the equality of treatment in Hongkong.
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