grant the allowance to any of the Senior Supervising Staff who already had any allowance assigned to them.
In the same clause for 'Subordinates' substitute 'Supervising Staff' to make it clear that the allowance was not to be granted to labourers.
I asked Mr. Eves if the approval of these recommendations would very materially reduce his office work, and met all the complaints he had put forward regarding Audit and Accounting difficulties. He said that they would, and that he had never hitherto known exactly how he stood in relation to the Colonial Audit and Treasury. It was now quite clear and he had nothing else to ask and desired no further alterations.
I requested the Local Auditor to transmit these recommendations as approved to the Comptroller and Auditor General for his concurrence. The Hon. Treasurer and Auditor concurred that sufficient control and audit over Railway expenditure would still be maintained.
The Local Auditor said that stock-verifiers should be at once appointed. They had proved most useful on the Uganda Railway where trained Indian-Eurasians were employed.
Mr. Eves concurred and said he had only deferred their appointment pending arrival of the Railway Accountant. He did not desire to have Indians or Indo-Eurasians, and suggested Chinese on $70 or $80 per month. He said in reply to my question that on former Railway work in China he had employed Europeans locally engaged on about $250 per month, and I understood that the men employed on the Uganda Railway were paid about the same rate.
The Hon. Colonial Secretary considered Chinese more unsuitable for such work and less amenable to influence or bribery. It was decided that the Auditor should advertise for a man, probably a Portuguese or Portuguese-Eurasian on a salary of $120 to $150 per mensem, rising by $120 annually, and with a prospect of permanent employment on the Railway if he proved reliable.
Two would be required, but it was sufficient to engage one at present on trial.
3.