317
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No. 22.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR
(Sent 3.10 p.m., 17th October, 1922.) TELEGRAM.
YOUR telegram of 30th September.* Inform Peiris that Salaries proposals had received my approval and are in my opinion urgently necessary in view of existence of widespread discontent in all grades of Government Service. I fully approve of your action in using official vote, and cannot accept Peiris' interpretation of my predecessor's remarks. I cannot now agree to reconsideration of question. As regards taxation proposals, consider that increased taxation is obviously necessary. and proposals moderate. In view of necessity for stability, cannot consider request for delay, but shall, of course, give careful consideration to any proposals for modification in detail put forward by any body of opinion in the Council. --SECRETARY of State for THE COLONIES.
52517
SIR,
No. 23.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 23rd October, 1922.)
(Confidential.)
[Answered by No. 25.]
WITH reference to your despatch No. 313 of 1st June, regarding the
Ceylon, 3rd October, 1922. Salaries Scheme, and your Confidential despatch of 21st July, regarding the Budget and the Taxation proposals for 1922-1923, I have the honour to address you on the proceedings in the Legislative Council on the 28th and 20th September, which resulted in the voluntary departure from the Council Chamber, in the course of the proceedings, of thirteen Ceylonese and one Indian member.
2. In order that the position may be clear to you, I think it will be well first to give a short summary of the events which led up to the present situation, in which the principal factors are the proposed new Salaries Scheme, the estimates of expenditure for 1922-1923, and the taxation and raising of railway rates, necessary to give effect to the proposals of Government.
3. On receipt of your despatch, No. 313 of 1st June, regarding my proposed modifications of the original Salaries Scheme, in which you expressed the hope that the Legislative Council would be prepared to give the matter their full and careful consideration, I caused my despatch§ with its memorandum of amendments and your reply, to be published on 7th July as Sessional Paper No. 13 of 1922, and with a view to enabling members of the Legislative Council to study the proposals in the light of the present financial condition of the Colony, I caused the Treasurer's memorandum on the financial popsition, dated 12th July, to be placed in the hands of members on 20th July. had already announced on 6th July that I proposed to delay laying the matter before the Council until early in August, in order to give members time for prior consideration of the proposals.
4. Meanwhile, as I was apprised of a demand for the publication of the material on which the Commissioners had based their recommendations, I caused the relevant parts of this material to be published under the title "Recommendations from Heads of Departments submitting proposals for the consideration of the Salaries Commission, 1921." This was placed in the hands of members on 25th July, and I enclose a copy** for your information.
5.
On 2nd August, the Colonial Secretary moved the following motion:
"That this Council approves the grant of an increase to the substantive salaries now drawn by Public Officers, and the grant to them of improved conditions of service, and also the appointment of a Select Committee to
* No. 20.
↑ No. 16.
81901: not printed. 1 Enclosure 2 (not printed here).
No. 18.
| No. 18.. ** Enclosure 8 (not printed here).
47
consider and report on the recommendations in that behalf, made in the report of the Salaries Commission (Sessional Paper XIX. of 1921), as amended by His Excellency the Governor in the Memorandum attached to his despatch No. 203, dated 12th April, 1922, to the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State's despatch No. 313, dated 1st June, 1922 (Sessional Paper XIII, of 1922).
"
I had given serious consideration to the selection of the members to sit on this Select Committee wishing it to be neither too large to deal with the mass of detail which would necessarily come before it, nor so small as to give occasion for criticism, but shortly before the meeting I acceded to what I found to be the wishes of the majority of the Unofficials, viz. the reference of the Salaries Scheme to a Select Committee. consisting of the Finance Committee, for consideration, along with the Estimates and the proposals for enhanced Railway rates and for increased taxation. The following amendment was therefore accepted by me and passed :-
"That the Salaries Scheme and connected despatches be referred to the Finance Committee of this Council for consideration and report, along with the Budget and taxation proposals."
I enclose, for your perusal, uncorrected proof copies* of the proceedings on this date.
6. The Select Committee, usually referred to in the subsequent proceedings as the Finance Committee, inasmuch as the Select Committee consisted of the Finance Committee, met on the following day, and although the importance of setting to work at once on the Salaries Scheme, much of which could have been fully discussed in the light of the Treasurer's memorandum of 12th July, was pressed on them, the Committee declined to discuss the matter in detail until the proposals of the Govern- inent, as regards the Estimate and Taxation, should be made known to them. Certain further details were asked for, which were supplied as quickly as possible, at a subsequent date, and the Committee adjourned until after the introduction of the Budget. In the meantime, as one member stated, they would "equip themselves for the consideration of the Salaries proposals."
7. This was the position when the Supply Bill was introduced, together with the Customs and Railway Amendment Ordinances on 24th August. Allowing one week for the study of these measures, the Second Readings were taken on 1st, 2nd and 4th September, and the measures were referred to a Select Committee, consisting of the members of the Finance Committee. In spite of the urgency of the matters before it, the Select Committee was not willing to sit until 7th September, when, after settling its main lines of procedure, it decided to adjourn again till 13th September. Inasmuch as it was obviously a matter of importance that the Budget should be settled before the beginning of the new financial year on 1st October, the Committee thus left itself with only a fortnight in which to deal with these very important matters. Actually, the Committee sat only on eight days for dis- cussion of detail, and one day for the settling of the reports.
8. The first six days were taken up with the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure exclusive of the item (Head 46, Sub-head 65) for the Salaries Scheme and the items for temporary increase. The only portion of the Salaries Scheme discussed up to this point was that referring to Passages. So far from accepting the recommendations of the Salaries Commissionera, or giving any heed to the claims of the officers drawing over £900 a year, who are at present excluded from the benefits of the Scheme, the Committee, after very brief discussion, decided to make no change in the present scheme, but wished to restrict the expenditure on it, whatever might be required, to Rs. 250,000 per annum. This sum, as a matter of fact, the Colonial Treasurer thinks will suffice, the balance of the item of Rs. 425,000 appearing in the draft Estimates being required for passages not under the passage
scheme.
The Committee made, on the proposal of Mr. James Peiris, only one small concession to officers domiciled outside Ceylon, to the effect that, as regards those benefiting under the scheme, the wives and families of officers domiciled outside Ceylon should have preference in the grant of passages over those of officers domiciled in Ceylon.
9. At the seventh meeting, the Committee unanimously agreed to retain the provision for the present temporary increases, and then proceeded to discuss the
*Enclosure (not printed here).
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882/10
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO