----སམའ- 2
PUBLIC
RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/1
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO |
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considerations which has raised serious doubts in my mind as to the desirability of combining the accounting functions of the Treasury with the Colonial Secretary's Department. The condi- tions which I have endeavoured to describe clearly indicate in my opinion the essential need that the financial and accounting trans- actions of all branches should be subject to the personal scrutiny and control of a financial officer of sufficient rank to exercise authority over all departments concerned, and I am very doubtful whether the proposed combination of administrative and financial supervision in the Secretariat will permit of this. I trust that I may prove to have been mistaken.
21. The observations submitted above as to the quality of the local staff and the need for closer independent supervision are of course nothing new. The staff has been the same for years and the difficulties referred to have been the common experience of officers serving in Mauritius. The acute financial conditions of the present crisis have, however, brought these conditions into greater prominence and the retrenchment and reorganisation proposed render it more than ever necessary that full account should be taken of them if the measures proposed are to prove effective.
It may be also that the pressure of poverty and the fear of dismissals has brought the informer " class more to the front, In any case it appears that the general atmosphere of suspicion is more than ordinarily prevalent and that sufficient has been brought to light to prevent the charges made by popular report from being lightly dismissed.
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22. Such conditions naturally create a feeling of uneasiness and unrest among Government servants, which is aggravated by the fear of enforced economies and retrenchments. As the local Civil Servant is, as previously explained, an important political element, the pressure of these interests on Members of Council can be easily understood. The delay which has unfortunately occurred in putting the plans for economy into effect adds to the tension and uncertainty. Regrettable as this is it has, in the circum- stances, been unavoidable, and as this delay and uncertainty has had a marked effect on the general temper I may be excused for adding some explanation as to its causes. It became obvious to me soon after my arrival here at the end of August, 1930, that drastic economies in the Governinent organization were necessary, but after the essential preliminary review of the position it seemed to me desirable to postpone any definite plans until after the General Elections which took place in January, 1931. The agitation of popular feeling which accompanied these elections conclusively showed in my opinion that any extensive plans for reorganization would have been very much pejudiced as to their prospects of success if they had been thrown into the whirlpool of electioneering tactics. I had formed the opinion that the only real prospect of effective economies lay in an extensive reorganization of the system,
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an opinion which was subsequently fully borne out by the proposal of the Financial Commission. In February therefore, as soon as the elections were over, I appointed a committee under the chair- manship of the Colonial Secretary to make recommendations as to possible lines of retrenchment. I must admit that I entertained no very sanguine hopes as to the effectiveness of this committee's recommendations, but as there was a general demand for retrench- ment it seemed to me advisable to give local opinion an opportunity of formulating proposals in the first instance. The committee had been instructed to report before the 15th April which would have enabled any practical proposals in their recommendations to be embodied in the estimates. Before they had however got beyond the preliminary exchanges of verbose generalities which form the usual prelude to the work of local committees the cyclone of 5th March took place, and in the subsequent disorganization and preoccupation with the problems of immediate repairs the com- mittee sunk into a willing oblivion. The proposal, following close upon the cyclone, to appoint a Financial Commission of Inquiry also made it difficult to undertake any effective measures without prejudging the findings of the Commission. Owing to unavoidable delays in the appointment and arrival of the Commission there was no alternative but to frame provisional estimates for 1931-32 on the basis of existing commitments, and in the event the actual pro- posals of the Commission were such that they could scarcely be given effect without a general organization.
These circumstances have inevitably delayed the needed reorganization and together with the increasing pressure of financial stringency have had an unsettling effect on the general temper which has been aggravated by, what appeared to local opinion, unnecessary delays in the settlement of details of the Hurricane Loan. Unfortunately the financial crisis in England increased these difficulties. The consequent inevitable delays and increasing tension have created a feeling of great uneasiness as to the forth- coming measures and a fear amongst members of the Council of Government that owing to the growing urgency of the position they may be presented with a cut and dried scheme of reforms on which they would have no opportunity of expressing an opinion. It is in my view most desirable that so far as is possible the co-operation of the Council of Government should be retained in the carrying out of the necessary reorganization. In the absence of some measure of support from the unofficial side of the Council passive resistance on the part of the Civil Service to measures which cannot be agreeable to them and must involve considerable sacrifices would be greatly strengthened and encouraged. I think the information given above as to conditions in the Civil Service will show that it is unlikely that considerations of loyalty and duty would of themselves ensure a serious effort on the part of the subordinate service to make the revised organization work
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