260
30
For the work of tobacco excise, we concur in the view expressed to us by the Collector of Customs that it is desirable to increase the present staff by six inspectors in order that a closer super- vision may be maintained over the nine tobacco factories. We would suggest that the new staff should consist of the existing Inspector at his present salary, with six Inspectors on the scale of Rs.1800-2400 and three on the scale Rs.960-1620. This total staff of ten Inspectors would include three officers who are at present graded as Customs Preventive Men and no question of their replacement on the Customs staff should arise. Their salary, however, would include the allowances which they now draw, and the item of Rs.780 in the Estimates for clerical assistance should disappear.
21. The duties of this proposed excise organization would relate solely to the technical work of excise and should not extend to the direct supervision of dealers in spirits or tobacco, or to the detec- tion of illicit distillation or tobacco manufacture. These latter duties would, as proposed in our report on the Treasury-be taken over entirely by the Police. It would of course be necessary for the Surveyor of Excise to maintain a close personal liaison with the Police administration, so that there would be adequate con- sultation and interchange of information between the two depart- ments. With such co-operation we do not consider that the main- tenance of an independent Revenue Police Force should be necessary.
With the combination of the two Excise Services, the duties of the Deputy Collector will be materially increased, and we have taken this into consideration in recommending that the salary of his post should be increased by the amount of the allowance which he now draws as Commissioner of Excise and that he should suffer no reduction in his total emoluments under the general Civil Service cut.
The additional clerical work thrown upon the Customs Depart- ment would not justify any increase in the clerical staff, which we recommend should continue at its present strength.
Port and Marine.
22. As has already been mentioned the Collector of Customs also fills the post of Harbour Master and Superintendent of the Mercan- tile Marine, a combination of duties which was suggested by the Royal Commission of 1909.* The internal administration of the two departments is entirely separate, and this necessitates separate deputies to the Chief Controlling Officer. His deputy for the Port and Marine Department is the Port Captain, who exercises a general supervision over the Marine staff, including that of the light- houses, controls the movement of ships in the harbour, checks the cost and execution of repairs to Government vessels, and is respon- sible generally for the ordering and checking of marine and lighthouse supplies.
Ca. 5185.
31
The duties of the Harbour Master do not extend to the com- mercial management of the new Quays and Government Granary which are the responsibility of the Harbour Engineer. We deal with these undertakings in chapter X and recommend that the control of the granary should be transferred to the Collector of Customs as soon as its operation becomes normal. The Collector is already responsible for the other Government warehouses.
23. After careful consideration of the estimates of this depart- ment in consultation with the Harbour Master, we do not consider that there is much scope for reduction in expenditure. A possible line of economy, however, was suggested in the placing out of commission of one of the large launches-the Princess of Wales, which if retained will shortly require a new boiler at a cost of £1,000. Its withdrawal from active service will mean a substantial saving in the charge for repairs in the next year's estimates, and further consequential savings according to an estimate furnished to us by the Harbour Master would be Rs.5,568 on staff and Rs.4,000 on other charges ".
Department of Posts and Telegraphs.
24. The estimates of this department for the current year amount to a total of Rs.244,817, to which should be added the salaries of the Accountant (Rs.7,200) and two typists (at Rs.1,500 and Rs.1,275 respectively), who as members of the General Civil Ser- vice establishment are borne upon the estimates of the Colonial Secretariat. A further addition should be made for the cost of the services rendered by the Government Electrician in maintain- ing and repairing the telegraph plant and equipment. This cost is included in the consolidated contribution of Rs.70,000 made to the Electrical Branch of the Railway from the Colonial Revenue and charged to. item 56 of Miscellaneous Expenditure in the Esti- mates. Much of the telegraph plant is common to the Railways and to the Postal Department, and the respective share of the charges is determined by costing. The present share of the Postal Department is Rs.15,000, but this figure will be increased, if the work for the Railways is reduced as we have proposed. Taking the telegraph engineering charges at Rs.15,000 a year, the total expenditure of the Posts and Telegraphs Department exceeds the estimated revenue for the year by about Rs.7,000. This adverse margin will probably be reduced as the result of the recent C.O.D. arrangement for parcel postage from France which has already borne fruit in an increased parcels revenue. The C.O.D. system has been in force as regards parcels of British origin for several years.
25. The department has been largely remodelled by the present Colonial Postmaster upon the lines of the British postal system and it impressed us as being both efficiently and economically
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PUBLIC
RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
1117C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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