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indications such as the size of their houses and gardens which are very apt to create a false impression in the mind of those inexperienced in local conditions. The elasticity of credit in domestic matters in Mauritius is also quite extraordinary and enables many to live in apparent comfort who are known to be practically penniless. I have myself no doubt at all that with a few special individual exceptions the business and agricultural com- munity have now reached the limit of their resources.
14. The position of the Government in these circumstances is obviously one of great difficulty. The administrative machine has been built up on extravagant lines in many cases, its special defect being the multiplication of minor functionaries, and the limitation of trustworthy and independent supervision to an altogether inadequate minimum. The large economies which are obviously called for involve the discharge of relatively great numbers of subordinate employees of all grades who in present conditions have no hope whatever of obtaining other employment. Their discharge will add greatly to the already excessive pension charges, while the provision of any special allowances to save those who have no pen- sionable rights from actual destitution is not only beyond the resources of the local Government but would also have a deplorable effect in pauperizing a population which is only too prone to take advantage of such a situation and to rely upon the Government for relief. The experience gained during the few days succeeding the cyclone when free issues of rice were made to those who had been rendered actually destitute was very definite on this point. On the other hand the alternative course of increasing taxation is possible only to an extreniely limited degree. Unless conditions show some improvement further charges on imports will be largely counterbalanced by a further decline in the quantity of imports while any practicable increase in direct taxation can obviously fall on a very limited class who, as explained above, are, taken as a whole, at the limit of their resources. In actual fact both the
above courses will have to be resorted to, but I am personally convinced that without some definite prospect of improved economic conditions in the sugar industry no combination of measures so far proposed will succeed in achieving a balanced budget for 1932-33. Local solutions for this impasse are practically confined to proposals for the reduction of the salaries of Government servants. has in fact been recommended by the Financial Commission, but This it is obvious that it can in any case be nothing more than a partial remedy.
15. The various proposals for reorganization made by the Finan cial Commission in the notes furnished to me represent a gross saving, including services to be transferred to local authorities, of Rs.1,440,562. Of this Rs.446,650 is represented by services -to be transferred to the Municipality and local Boards; the net
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saving to the community therefore is just under Rs.1,000,000 against which must be set additional charges for pensions estimated by the Commission at about Rs.150,000, but which, as I have stated elsewhere, I expect to amount to more thau this. The main feature of the proposals apart from reductions in salaries is the abolition of a number of minor functionaries (Revenue Guards," Forest Rangers, and Guards ") Guards," Fishery and the transfer of these functions chiefly to the Police and Post Office. I have already explained elsewhere that I am in agree- ment in principle with the recommendations as a whole. One of the worst features of the local organization is the undue multiplica- but tion of minor functionaries which not only involves expense, greatly increases the difficulty of supervision and tends by the excessive output of paper work, returns, and other routine opera- tions to confine supervising officials too much to their offices. Nevertheless it must be emphasized that these conditions will not be effectively remedied merely by the elimination of a number of minor employees and a reduction in the pay of the remainder. Those who remain, while they may be stimulated to some extent by the fear of further retrenchments or dismissals, have neverthe- less been trained in the methods and outlook of the system which it is hoped to reform and if a new method and spirit is to be infused into the organization a much closer personal supervision by reliable and independent superior officers will be required. The absence of definite provision for this is in my opinion the weak spot in the recommendations of the Commission, and it is this which will make the carrying out of their recommendations difficult, and under- mine their prospects of success when they are put into effect. The administrative machine could without question be operated by a much smaller staff if the subordinate staff were competent and reliable, but it must be confessed that speaking generally they are As the unreliability of the subordinate staff is so important a factor for consideration in any scheme of reorganization I feel bound to lay stress on this point and to illustrate by actual instances the conditions which the Government has to meet. The Mauritian subordinate is by no means inferior in intelligence and in per- formance of routine clerical duties under supervision he is quite adequate, but it is an almost universal failing to avoid by all means any form of responsibility or the expression of a decided personal view and to resort to limitless artifice, delay, or prevarication to cover up slackness or errors. The difficulty of independent deci- sion or action which must very commonly affect personal friends or even relatives must of course be allowed for and is by no means confined to Mauritius: what is more prominent here than in any Colony of which I have had experience is the general atmosphere of distrust and suspicion as to the motives of any action by an official or Department where the decision does not rest in the hands of an independent European. Distrust of the integrity and good faith of the subordinate service up to even its highest grades is
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