PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
mimminu
TTTTTC.O. 882
6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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The actual value of the dollar for the last few years has not greatly varied from two shillings.
3. In every instance the holders of the posts enumerated in scheme No. I. are entitled to free quarters and, in some cases, the quarters are wholly or partially furnished. With very few exceptions no officer is entitled to count the value of his quarters for pension, and, if the rules laid down on this subject are strictly observed, the right in those exceptional cases will disappear altogether on the promotion, increase of salary, or retirement, of the few officers whose claims are now good.
4. If there is to be any general increase of salaries in the Federated Malay States the scheme cannot be confined to the offices named in the proposal submitted by the Acting Resident-General. It must be much more far-reaching and should apply to at least some of the posts held Europeans in every department in the States. That, I consider, is a sine qua non of any scheme for the general improvement of salaries in the Malay States, but it would be possible, if desired, to first deal with the appointments enumerated in scheme No. I., provided a decision were come to on certain general principles.
5. I am in favour of sterling rates, with leave pay and pension calculated on those salaries, and I am also in favour of free quarters for Europeans, with no claim to calculate the value of those quarters on retirement. As there are some officers with long service who now possess this claim it would remain with them to decide whether they would retain their claim or accept such alternative as was offered to them.
6. I need not point out the serious expenses to which the Federated Malay States will become liable, if the cost of establishments is increased, in the manner now suggested, whilst the officers who are benefited retain their existing privileges as regards leave pay, and especially as regards pensions. The majority of these officers have served for many years; a number of them must retire about the same time, and, if it is remembered that $6,000 at four shillings to the dollar means £1,200 for the calculation of pension, one must, having due regard to the interests of the Federated Malay States, hesitate before recommending a scale of increase such as that suggested in scheme No. I., which provides for nineteen appointments at salaries varying between $8,000 and $10,800, with nineteen appointments in the third class at $1,800, i.e., £980, every one of which is held by officers who have not joined as Federated Malay States cadets, and only three of whom (originally Straits Settle- ments cadets) have ever passed any entrance examination.
7. The Federated Malay States are at this moment in a state of great prosperity, and I anticipate that next year they will produce a revenue of probably $16,000,000, which is probably as large as that of the most flourishing of Her Majesty's Crown Colonies. Moreover, I have great confidence in the resources of the States and, when the railway construction now in hand is completed, the receipts will probably be largely increased. It is, however, a fact that in spite of the great exertions and perseverance of European planters, none of them has yet succeeded in accomplishing any great success, and, until the country can point to a considerable extension of profitable agricultural enterprise, I do not think it would be safe to rely upon a prosperity which depends so largely upon the fluctuating price of tin. There is certainly, at present, no cause for anxiety. I confidently look forward, as I have said, to a continuance of the remarkable prosperity which we have hitherto had, only I think it is only prudent to be careful about committing the Federated Malay States to considerable pension responsibilities, the burden of which will only be felt many years hence. I am the more inclined to this view having regard to what has occurred in India.
8. I am satisfied that the Government Officers in the Malay States deserve a higher remuneration, and it is right that those who have assisted in developing the States should share in the prosperity which is due directly to their exertions. There is no reason why they should not be paid at least as well as officers who discharge similar duties, and are entrusted with probably smaller responsibilities in the Colony of Ceylon or the Straits Settlements, even if we do not seek a comparison with the high salaries paid in India or Egypt, where the conditions of life are probably pleasanter and where, in Egypt at all events, the climate is so much more favourable to Europeans. If my suggestion were adopted I should propose to fix the sterling rate of salaries for the higher offices (which are held by men many of whom joined the service when the dollar was worth from four shillings to three shillings), at figures which, while they gave a considerable immediate increase, would not greatly reduce the present sterling rates for retirement. For instance; take a salary of $6,000. With the present
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compensation that is roughly worth $7,200 (say £720), while the officer resides in the East; but it means £1,200 for leave salary and the same amount for pension at the four shilling rate, and £1,100 at three shillings and eightpence. The difference between the sterling value at home and abroad is so remarkable that an officer who comes to England on vacation followed by half-pay leave, draws probably as much as if he were on full salary working in the East. It is this anamolous position which I think ought to be put an end to, rather than that it should be accentuated, as would be the case if scheme No. I. were accepted. It is no doubt difficult, having regard to these peculiar circumstances, to fix a scale of sterling salaries that would be fair to the officer and meet the case, but, in my opinion, it would be only a confession of weakness to choose the simple course of raising salaries without regard to other issues. If we calculate that an officer spends at least four years of his service in the East for one on leave in Europe; if he serves for thirty years and retires at fifty five he pro- bably will not expect to draw a pension for more than fifteen years. The main point for him, therefore, is to draw an adequate salary during his service, though this con- sideration will not appeal with the same force to men who have already done twenty years' service.
If,
9. Of course, the real point to consider is whether it will cost the Government more to pay a higher salary in dollars now and smaller pensions, or vice versa. for instance, the salaries of those officers who now draw $6,000 (with compensation $7,200, with a claim to leave pay and pension at £1,200) were fixed at £1,000 a year, without, of course, any compensation, the officer would probably draw about $10,000 a year while on duty, which would give him an increase of $2,500, and against that his leave pay and pension would be somewhat reduced. The advantage to the officer would apparently be considerable, of he received at once an increase of $2,800 per annum. The advantage to the Government would be that its prospective liabilities would be reduced, that all excuse for dissatisfaction on account of variations in exchange would be got rid of, that compensation with all its troubles A8 to European parentage and domicile would be at an end, that the anomaly of paying leave pay and pension at fictitious rates would disappear, and that the officer, instead of constantly seeking to obtain leave to Europe in order to draw as large a salary as when he was at work in the East, would probably prefer to remain at his post unless his health required a change.
10. I do not say that £1,000 a year is the equivalent of a salary of $6,000 with its existing privileges, but I think that this is something like the proportion which might be adopted for the conversion of the salaries of the higher offices, if my pro- posal were approved. I do not think the salary of such a post should exceed £1,000 a year. Going down the scale to the lower classes it would, in my opinion, be fair to fix the sterling salaries much more nearly at their present dollar equivalent, because these posts are necessarily held by men who have recently joined, or will hereafter join, the service, to whom the dollar has never been anything except two shillings. In their case it would be only necessary to decide what would be a fair commencing salary to offer to cadets, and, if the service were graded and classified, I do not think that £240 a year would be too little to offer to a passed cadet who joined on £180 a year, and, as long as he drew that salary, would practically be rendering no service to the Government, but simply completing his education at the Government's expense. 11. It will, of course, be understood that my suggestion carries with it free quarters, and I only advocate that great concession-which I fear has never been sufficiently appreciated-because of the immense difficulties in apportioning quarters and collecting rent from officers who are constantly moving and acting in posts other than their own.
12. Salaries are paid in arrear on the last day of every month and, if they were fixed in sterling, all that would be necessary would be to pay them in dollars at what- ever was the demand rate in Singapore on, say, the fifteenth of each month, or to fix a rate of exchange in advance for each quarter of the year, though that might be less satisfactory.
13. As I am now discussing general questions, I may say that the position of the clerical service in the Federated Malay States has very recently been greatly improved, and I do not know of any reason for improving the salaries of the clerical branch, nor yet for binding the Government to find free quarters for al' of them. A short time ago Mr. Knight, the retired Assistant Auditor of the Straits Settlements Government, visited the Malay States at my request and made a report upon our financial departments, and he told me that he considered that the Federated Malay