PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PLC.O. 882
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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only just come to my notice. It relates to the Scheme of Sterling Salaries for the Federated Malay States Forest Department, and I beg to offer the following comments and replies to the points raised in the Secretary of State's despatch, No. 286, of the 24th September last.
2. (Paragraph 3.)-In my letter to Your Excellency, confidential, No. 43, of 28th March, 1902, I said:-"I concur with the Chief Forest Officer's objection to frequently changing the holder of this important post, because the conditions in the States differ considerably from those in Burma, and it takes some time for the new comer to acquire the necessary knowledge of the country, the language, the forests and the system, while there would also be the risk of new and zealous men being anxious to introduce new systeins, whereas continuity of forest policy is, in my opinion, very desirable."
3. (Paragraph 5.)—Mr. Burn-Murdoch is too ill to attend to duty, but I think it is certain that he would not consent to give up his career in the Indian Forest De- partment for a salary of £800 a year with no periodical increments, as set forth in the proposed Scheme.
His pay in Burmah, as a Third Grade Deputy Conservator, is at the rate of Rs. 650 per mensem with the usual Burmah allowance of Rs. 100 a month. Rs. 650 a month, plus exchange compensation allowance, is equal to £552: 10 per annum, and with the Burmah allowance of Rs. 100 per mensem, his total emoluments in Burmah amounted to £632: 10 per annum. We are paying him £750, plus his contribution to the Indian leave and pension fund, which amounts to about Rs. 2,700 or £180 per
annum.
He would have a prospect of rising in India to be:—
A 1st Grade Conservator, Rs. 1,600 per mensem;
A 2nd Grade Conservator, Rs. 1,400 per mensem;
A 3rd Grade Conservator, Rs. 1,200 per mensem;
1st Grade Deputy Conservator, Rs. 900 per mensem;
A 2nd Grade Deputy Conservator, Rs. 800 per mensem.
Rs. 1,600, with Exchange Compensation, £1,360 per annum;
Rs. 1,400, with Exchange Compensation. £1,190 per annum;
Rs. 1,200, with Exchange Compensation, £1,020 per annum;
Rs. 900, with Exchange Compensation, £765 per annum;
Rs. 800, with Exchange Compensation, £680 per annum; With local allowance if employed in Burmah.
Mr. Burn-Murdoch was appointed to the Indian Imperial Forest Service in Janu- ary, 1891. The Ceylon Government some years ago obtained a permanent officer from India on £850 per annum.
Under these circumstances I still consider my original proposal to be reasonable, viz., to fix the salary for the Conservator Federated Malay States and Colony, at £780 (the rate for the State Engineers, Perak and Selangor) to £1,200 (the rate for Director Public Works) by seven triennial increments of £60. Supposing that the officer selected had ten years' service in India, he would have to complete 21 years' service in the States, and 31 years' service in all, before reaching the maximum.
The officer selected should, if possible, be on deputation or probation for 3 years,
on £780, and then if retained come on the l'ensionable Establishment at £840.
There are no local allowances here, but neither are there deductions from salary
for leave and pension, and our Pension Regulations are more favourable.
The irreducible minimum to secure a good man would be, I think, £725 to £1,205, by 8 triennial increments of £60.
4. (Paragraph 7.)-It is not proposed to increase Mr. Burn-Murdoch's salary from £750 to £800 a year, unless he would accept the permanent appointment, which he almost certainly will not do.
5. (Paragraph 9.)-It is not intended to raise Mr. Hudson's salary from £360 to £420 until he has served three years in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States together. He arrived in the Straits Settlements on 22nd of April, 1901.
6. (Paragraph 10.)-I see no reason for placing the Superintendent of the Experimental Plantations, Selangor, and of the Governments Gardens, Perak, under the Forest Department. The Conservator has as much work as he can manage in supervising Forest Work proper, including the care of Palaquium, in the Federated Malay States (26,300 square miles) and in the Colony (1,520 square miles).
I trust that this duty will not be imposed on the Conservator, who has to organise a Forest Department in the large State of Pahang.
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The Superintendents referred to by the Secretary of State are provided for in the Sterling Scheme for Professional and Miscellaneous Appointments.
7. (Paragraph 11.)-The appointment of Deputy Conservator of Forests. Pahang, recently filled by the appointment of Mr. Craddock, is a new post in so far as that it has now been filled for the first time. In the supplementary Pahang Estimates, 1902, provision was made for a Forest Officer on £500, and an Assistant Forest Officer on £360. These correspond to the posts of Deputy Conservator and Assistant Conserva- tor in the Sterling Scheme for the Forest Department.
8. (Paragraph 12.)—I am not able to consult Mr. Burn-Murdoch, on account of the state of his health, but I advise that the question of adding a third increment in the lower grades be deferred until we have had a little longer experience of the working of the newly reorganised Forest Department.
His Excellency
The High Commissioner,
Federated Malay States, Singapore.
(No. 7020/1902.)
SIR,
I have, &c.,
W. H. TREACHER,
Resident-General,
Enclosure 2 in No. 121.
Federated Malay States.
RESIDENT-GENERAL to HIGH COMMISSIONER
Resident-General's Office, Selangor, November 28, 1902.
REFERRING to my letter, No. 7020, of the 20th November current, on the sub- ject of the Forest Department and its proposed Sterling Scheme of Salaries, I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that I have now been able to see Mr. Burn- Murdoch, and have shown, to him a copy of the said letter.
2. As a result of my interview I have the honour to submit the following remarks:-
(1.) I was wrong in implying (paragraph 3 of my letter) that in the Indian Forest Service deductions from salary are made on account of leave and pension. No such deductions are made in that Department, and the salaries are subject only to deductions for income tax, which is at the rate of Rupees 2 Annas 9 Pies 8, per Rs. 100.
Mr. Burn-Murdoch, therefore, gains nothing by our contribution to the Indian Government which will be as follows:-Rs. 212: 8 annas a month for January, Febru- ary, and March, and Rs. 225 a month for April to December, 1903, or Rs. 2,862: 8 annas for the 12 months, and not Rs. 2,700 as stated in paragraph 3 of my letter.
(2.) With reference to the same paragraph 3 it would be well, perhaps, to show Your Excellency Mr. Burn-Murdoch's salary converted into Rupees for comparison with his Burma pay.
He drew in Burma:-
Rs. 650, plus allowance 100, with Exchange Compensation on the salary,
Rs. 790.
He drew here in October:-
$740-74 at Exchange 123, Rs. 911: 11.
(3.) Mr. Burn-Murdoch expresses his conviction that an efficient officer of, say, 10 years' standing would not leave the Indian Forest Department for the irreducible minimum referred to in paragraph 3 of my letter-£725 to £1,205. His opinion is that the irreducible minimum is £780 to £1,200, as mentioned in the first part of that paragraph.
(4.) With reference to Your Excellency's pencil remark against paragraph 5 of the Secretary of State's despatch, "I understand that Mr. Burn-Murdoch says he will not remain," Mr. Burn-Murdoch wishes it to be pointed out that he can only say definitely that it would be impossible for him to sever his connection with the Indian Department for a salary of £800 a year, without periodical increments or prospects of promotion.
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