98
PUBLIC RECORD
། ། ༄། ། །
ורוד
OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/12
| COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
RF
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
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would be a strong lever in enforcing such a policy. On the other hand while the Military contribution continues to be exacted it is hard to demand from the Colony such sacrifices as the closing of schools, curtailment of necessary public services, or a general reduction in the pay of public servants. Yet unless some assistance is afforded it seems to me that these are the expedients to which the local Government may be forced to resort,
As I have pointed out above there is, I think, a very strong case for the revision of the basis of assessment of the Military contribution apart altogether from the particular conditions of the moment and if His Majesty's Government, in view of these special conditions, would be prepared to agree to waiving altogether the contribution for the coming year, I venture to urge that the announcement of this concession should be accompanied by an intimation that the Government was also prepared to consider a revision of the annual basis of the contribu- tion for the future. Such an announcement might well be accom- panied by a condition that rigid economy must be enforced locally until conditions improve.
12. I do not suggest the abolition of the contribution. What- ever view may be taken of the duty of the smaller and more remote colonies to contribute towards the cost of their defence by Imperial troops as outposts in the general defence scheme of the Empire, there is no doubt that the presence of even a very small Imperial Garrison in this Colony is of very great value to its in- Labitants as a stabilising influence and a measure of internal security. I am sure that this is fully recognized by the responsible elements of the population and that any proposal to withdraw the Garrison entirely. would be received with nothing short of dismay. I think it is fair therefore that under normal economic conditions the Colony should be required to make some contribu- tion towards the cost of the Garrison and on the analogy of Cyprus, I should be inclined to assess the amount to £25,000, or, alterna- tively, at 5 per cent. of the assessable revenues or half the cost of the Garrison whichever is the less. Apart from other considera- tions it may properly be urged that but for the presence of the Imperial Garrison it would be necessary for the Colony to increase its outlay on the Police Force. The present cost of this Force is Rs.891,871, and though it is difficult to give an accurate estimate, I think it would be necessary to increase the present Force by at least 20 per cent. and to improve the establishment of officers if the Garrison were removed. The actual cost of such an increase would, of course, depend on the kind of arrangements inade but the amount would in any case be substantial. It is not therefore unreasonable in my view that the Colony should be asked to con- tribute half the cost of the present Garrison in times when normal economic conditions prevail. In present circumstances, for reasons already given, I do not think that the Colony is in a position to make any contribution.
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This
13. Interest on Widows and Orphans' Fund.-I have already commented in my open despatch No. 13 of the 16th January* on the position under Ordinance No. 34 of 1928, section 5, whereby the contributions to the Widows' and Orphans' Fund are required to be invested with the Government and eight per cent. is paid on the mean monthly balance to the credit of the Fund. arrangement constitutes a heavy drain on the Treasury which not only does not benefit by a favourable mortality experience but also las to bear the entire risk represented by depreciation of invest- ments: The method of accounting, by which no separate invest- ments are allocated against this fund, obscures these points. In a time of acute financial stress such as the present, I do not think the Colonial Treasury is in a position to bear this strain, and I suggest that no real hardship on contributions to the Fund would be involved if the present rates of pension and cost of management as well as to the cost of periodical actuarial examinations were guaranteed by the Government and the items for interest dropped from the Estimates, being replaced by the amount of the con- tributions on the revenue side, and on the expenditure side of the cost of pensions and of management. This would in effect correct the Fund to a Scheme", which I think would be a great advantage to the Treasury and give equally good security for the payment of widows' and orphans' pensions. Such a change would of course require legislative sanction.
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14. If the Military contribution could be waived for the coming year and subsequently reduced in amount and the contributions for interest on the Widow's and Orphans' Fund eliminated, the budget could be balanced without disorganization of public services. Failing these aids I see no prospects of doing so except by the discontinuance of essential services. I submit that resort to such extreme measures would not be justified in order to meet a situa- tion which I trust may prove to be of a temporary character at least in its more acute aspects. It does not seem possible to assert at present that the cane-sugar industry will not within a year or two be restored to a level which will at least permit of its continu- ance as the main support of the Colony. If this hope proves false there will be no alternative but a considerable grant from Imperial Funds to tide over the period, which I fear must be prolonged, before the economic life of the Colony could be adjusted to the new conditions.
15. In accordance with Your Lordship's instructions I have endeavoured to consider what measures could be taken in the event of the actual collapse of the sugar industry in Mauritius but the problem is one of extraordinary difficulty. So far as I have been able to envisage the resulting position it does not seem to me
* No. 24.