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「T། ། 「།T
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
|LUFTRIGĦI PROTOURETTET
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
C.O.
885
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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existing arrangements are founded involves the two principles of (a) selecting candi- dates who are likely to become efficient officers in the future; and (b) giving a good preliminary training. I have no reason to suppose that the subjects on which he lays emphasis are omitted from the courses at Southampton, but other subjects neces- sary to the equipment of a surveyor are not excluded. The absence of information on the subject of allowances given to Surveyors in the East Africa Protectorate appears to be due to the fact that such allowances are charged against general votes, and are not shown on the Estimates of the Survey Department. I now understand that Junior Staff Surveyors receive subsistence allowance at the rate of five rupees a day and house allowance at the rate of either £40 or £70 a year; that the corres- ponding rates for assistants are three rupees a day and £40 a year, and that these allowances are paid whether the surveyors are at headquarters or absent on duty. I shall be glad to learn what is the exact rate of house allowance paid to Junior Staff Surveyors (a point on which Mr. Townsend's recollection was not clear), to which sub-head of the Estimates the allowances are charged, and also what allowances are paid to the two Probationers recently appointed.
6. Coming now to the proposals for the future contained in Mr. Townsend's memoranda, I am disposed to agree that suitable candidates for the special require- ments of the East Africa Protectorate could not be obtained in this country without recourse to advertising. But I do not think that present experience shows any neces- sity for advertisement for the Probationer system generally, and it would be difficult for the two systems to exist side by side, as many of the best candidates for the East Africa Protectorate would probably be or seek to become candidates for the more attractive posts in the Eastern Colonies also. The same difficulty arises in the matter of the freedom of choice of Colony to which Mr. Townsend refers. At present, freedom of choice is only allowed to the extent that candidates may express a preference, and may await a vacancy if they wish to do so. In practice, this means that a candidate will accept appointment in any Colony to which he is allotted, since as a general rule he is not in a position to wait for a vacancy after having relinquished his former employment in order to attend the course of instruction. There can, however, be no doubt that, in so far as the Eastern Colonies are more attractive, the freedom of choice, such as it is, forms a greater encouragement to a candidate than if he were obliged from the outset to confine his chances to the East Africa Protectorate.
7. Mr. Townsend also suggests a special course of instruction for East Africa Protectorate candidates. It would be for the Director-General of the Ordnance Survey to say whether this could be arranged in addition to the other demands made on his staff for instruction purposes. As I have pointed out, the present syllabus differs from that required by Mr. Townsend in degree rather than kind, and it might perhaps be possible to arrange for special attention in particular subjects to be given to East Africa Protectorate candidates.
8. I do not, however, go further into Mr. Townsend's proposals, as I observe that you prefer to recommend that you should be permitted to make application to the self-governing Dominions for surveyors on such terms as may be necessary to obtain experienced men. I have no doubt that well trained surveyors might be secured in this way, and I should have been glad to telegraph to you my approval of your proposal if I had felt satisfied that it would be possible to carry it out without add- ing to the expenditure on personal emoluments, and without dislocating the existing organisation of the Survey Department of the Protectorate. I would point out that, even as regards the present financial year, the savings accruing from the difficulty in filling vacancies have already been drawn upon for the additions to the computing and draughting staff, and that, as regards the future, it would appear that the expenditure on the establishment at its present numerical strength would be increased by the extra amount required to attract experienced men. In this connexion I may observe that the amount paid in the Federated Malay States to the temporary surveyors to whom you refer has been £420 a year-a rate higher than the maximum salary of the District Surveyors in the East Africa Protectorate. There would seem to be every reason to anticipate that, whatever the immediate result of your proposal might be, it could not fail ultimately, by introducing a class of more highly paid officials side by side with the existing staff, to raise the standard of personal emolu- ments throughout the Department, and thus to throw an additional burden of recur- rent expenditure on the Protectorate.
9. Apart from these considerations, the proposal would be open to technical objection on grounds of financial control, as involving a scheme of selection under
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which the rates of salary were not definitely fixed and published beforehand according to the ascertained requirements of the posts to be filled, but were varied at discretion to meet the demands of particular applicants.
10. In the circumstances, I regret that I am unable fully to accept the recom- mendations contained in your despatch. Subject, however, to the retention of exist- ing scales of pay, I shall be glad to leave you discretion in the selection of candidates from the self-governing Dominions or elsewhere, provided that I am informed of any appointment made, and of the qualifications of the candidate selected. I must, how- ever, stipulate that you will not fail to consult me beforehand in any case in which it is proposed to appoint a surveyor direct to one of the higher grades in which a vacancy may exist, as it will be necessary for me to assure myself in such a case that there is no one already in the Colonial service who can suitably be promoted to the position.
11. I do not consider it necessary to refer in detail to Mr. Townsend's remarks as to the selection of computers and draughtsmen. His views will be carefully borne in mind, but I am not aware that serious objection has been raised as to the capacity of the draughtsmen sent out, while, as regards the computers, the staff is now complete, and the necessity for further appointments may not arise.
I have, &c.,
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SIR,
No. 60.
EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, COLONIAL OFFICE to TREASURY.
L. HARCOURT.
Downing Street, 19 January, 1912.
I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd of January,* and to transmit to you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, the accompanying copy of a despatch which has now been addressed to the Governor of the East Africa Protectorate on the subject of the mode of selection of candidates for the Survey Department of the Protectorate. It will be observed that Mr. Harcourt has accepted their Lordships' views on the proposal that special terms should be offered to candidates at the Governor's discretion.
2. With regard to the third paragraph of your letter, I am to enclose a copy of the present regulationst governing the appointment of Colonial Survey Proba- tioners. The desire expressed by their Lordships in the last paragraph of your letter to be furnished with information as to the allowances paid to suveyors in the East Africa Protectorate will be borne in mind when the Governor's reply is received.
I am, &c.,
G. V. FIDDES.
7805
No. 61.
MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE COLONIAL SURVEY COMMITTEE, 27TH FEBRUARY, 1912.
PRESENT:
Colonel C. F. CLOSE, C.M.G., R.E. (D.-G.O.S.);
Mr. H. J. READ, C.M.G. (Colonial Office);
Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. HEDLEY, R.E. (General Staff); with Major H. J. JOHNSTON, R.E. (General Staff), and
Secretaries.
Mr. W. C. BOTTOMLEY (Colonial Office),
Mr. W. D. Ellis (Colonial Office) attended during the discussion on Cyprus.
1. Cyprus.
The Committee considered the report on the cadastral survey of Cyprus prepared by Captain H. G. Lyons, Sc.D., F.R.S. A high opinion of the excellence
• No. 58.
↑ No. 59.
Miscellaneous No. 225.