320
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
།། ༄། ། ། །
Reference :-
bowhim C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO |
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without the intervention of a Trust. The Government is also re- ceiving Rs.300,000 from marine dues and would not gain if these dues were pooled for the benefit of the shareholders of the Trust. as the scheme contemplates. The Trust scheme, on the other hand, would only give the Government Rs.90,000 interest on its share of the stock, and would also have the effect of converting into a loan two millions already expended from surplus balances.
The gain to the consumer would not be great. The scheme makes no change in lighterage rates, but by using the granary for storage and not for its legitimate purpose of handling grain as a measure of public health it would save the sugar exporter fifty cent a ton on storage, handling and weighing, or Rs.110,000 in all.
We feel that we have ground for regarding a scheme which will give the Government nothing which cannot be obtained now. which will have an almost negligible effect on the sugar trade, and which will immensely benefit the dock companies, as no more than a method of buying out these interests before embarking on a scheme of enlarging the deep-water quays.
34. It is not necessary for us to dwell on the latter scheme as we consider that a large construction scheme cannot possibly be contemplated in the present circumstances. A less expensive scheme for capital expenditure on the railways has already been abandoned and the same general reasons of finance must apply to the harbour scheme. The financial position of the Colony is to a large extent due to past Governments having undertaken large development schemes without definite necessity and without clear appreciation of their cost or their yield, and more particularly to their having proceeded to expand these schemes after trade and revenue had declined; the result has been that more debt has, been incurred while balances were being exhausted. There is no recommendation which we must make more definitely than that the Colony should not increase its liabilities by undertaking new schemes of development.
There can be no expectation that the amount of the s. a-borne trade of Mauritius will increase and there is, therefore, no necessity for providing greater accommodation at Port Louis. It cannot even be asserted that deep-water quays would be the ideal solution, as the Imperial Shipping Committee have decided that the owners and masters of ships must have an option between the use of the new quays and the continued use of lighters; they regarded the quayage scheme as one which must be subjected to the test of experience; but there can be no question that the Colony cannot afford to pay for experimental work. The figures of the reduced cost of shipping charges are attractive, but have not convinced the sugar trade.
We have hard of no attempt on the part of the trade to force down the charges of the dock companies, though some reduction seems possible; there is no kind of demand for
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new quays. For the Government to adopt this policy when there is no congestion of traffic, no demand and no certainty in the results is unthinkable.
35. We should refer to one argument which is common to these We were told that the great schemes, the argument of labour. objection to our proposal to reduce the railways to a goods basis was that labour would be displaced, though this was forgotten when proposals were put forward for buying labour-saving plant for the railways. We are told that the new harbour works may be regarded which will have the as 'really useful work of public utility" special merit of employing labour. But these works would only be useful to the public if they saved costs by saving labour, and we cannot agree that the labour difficulty should be met by the perpetual construction of labour-saving works.
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CHAPTER XI.-OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
Audit Observatory-Institute-Ecclesiastical-Military- Immigration and Poor Relief-Rodrigues.
For considerations of space we group in this chapter a number of budget heads dealing with departments in which we are not proposing any extensive reorganization and in which we cannot suggest any appreciable economies. Our reference to each will, therefore, be brief.
Audit.
2. The budget Head 6 provides only Rs.22,905 for Audit, but this sum does little more than cover the cost of the two officers The audit of the department, the Auditor and his Assistant. clerks, sixteen in number, cost Rs.55,000 and are included in the General Clerical Service in Head 4B. Expenditure of less than Rs.80,000 on audit for the whole of the colonial revenue and ex- penditure, including that of the railways, is certainly not excessive and should indeed be increased; we have examined the statement of duties of the staff and have discussed with the Auditor some possible lines of investigation which he could undertake if he had additional staff.
The department is organized on modern lines and reports to the Director of Colonial Audit. We propose no change except that the post of Chief Clerk should be made a special post on Rs.6,000, and the clerks should gradually be brought on to the new general scales of pay which we describe in a later chapter. The savings which will result from these changes will enable the Government to increase the staff as recommended by the Auditor.