3=
4.
of adequate prospects of promotion for men of
exceptional merit, since the application of a system of
classes to all grades of the service, including the
highest appointments, naturally tends to encourage
promotion by seniority rather than by merit or
suitability for particular appointments. I do not think
that the average officer in this service has any right
to expect to proceed, simply by faithful service and
without any outstanding merit, to the salaries provided
for the highest classes. Those salaries, as already
stated, are generous for this class of employee, and
Government is entitled to expect the best men for them.
The present system does, however, sometimes tend to
discourage the more able officers who see little prospect
of early promotion, and in a number of cases promising
men have resigned from the service in the hope of
finding more rapid advancement in outside employment.
With the object of resolving these promotion
difficulties I would recommend, therefore, that the
grading of the service be recast on the following basis.
(a) A recruitment grade, to be known as Class II,
with a long scale of say sixteen years, equivalent
to an amalgamation of the present Classes VI, V
and IV, with, however, some modification of
increments to offset the advantage of a straight
run through to the maximum of $1,800 per annum.
A Class I with an eight year scale exactly
equivalent to the present Class III.
7.
(b)
(c)
A Special Class consisting of a number of
specific appointments. I am at present inclined
to think these should be grouped into three grades
for purposes of salaries, the grades corresponding