CO882-(8-9) — Page 433

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

CO. 882

9

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

SIR,

MR.

REPORT

Y

R. E. STUBBS

ON THE

SALARIES AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE CADET SERVICE IN THE MALAY PENINSULA.

MR. STUBBS to the SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES.

13th January, 1911. Ix consequence of the receipt early in 1910 of a memorial from a number of officers rving in the Federated Malay States. I was instructed by the Earl of Crewe to proceed to the Malay Peninsula and to enquire into and report upon the salaries and classification of the Cadet Service in those States. Subsequently I was instructed to extend my enquiries to the Straits Settlements branch of the same service. In accordance with my instructions. I left Marseilles on the 16th of September, 1910, arriving in Singapore on the 7th of October. I remained in the Malay Peninsula until the 4th of December, when I left for Hong Kong.

2. During the eight weeks which I spent in the Peninsula I travelled widely in the Colony and the Federated Malay States and discussed the matters with which I had been I am much indebted instructed to deal with a large number of members of the service.

to these gentlemen and also to members of the unofficial community for the readiness with which they assisted me to obtain the infortnation which I desired.

3. I will deal first with the question of the rates of salary. I do not think that any useful purpose would be served by entering into a detailed examination of prices with a view to showing the relation between the cost of living in the Malay Peninsula and that of living in England. A comparison of local prices with the prices of the same articles at home must necessarily be fallacious, owing to the differences in the mode of life in the two countries. For instance, the fact that a fowl can be purchased for 65 or 70 cents (say 1s. 6d. to Is. 8d., might be adduced in support of a theory that the cost of living in the Malay Peninsula is actually less than that of living in London. The argument would, however, be unsound, since it would not take into account the fact that in many out-stations in the Malay Peninsula fowl must form the staple diet of the European officer. The proper comparison would therefore be between the cost of such quantity of poultry as is needed to furnish a meal in the Federated Malay States and the cost of the meat which would take its place in an English household. I do not feel competent to express Malay chickens in terms of New Zealand mutton and, though this is perhaps an extreme case, similar difficulties arise in connection with almost any attempt at detailed comparison.

4. The one point on which no difference of opinion is possible is that the expenses of an officer of the Cadet service in the Malay Peninsula must necessarily be much greater than those of a man of similar standing in the service at home, not so much because of the greater cost of individual articles of consumption as on account of the more luxurious In England it is usually style in which he must live, whether he wishes to do so or not. possible for a Civil servant to adjust his expenditure to suit his income by exercising economy in various directions, eg., by living in a cheap house, by employing few servants, and by spending little on entertaining. In the Malay Peninsula economies of this kind The public position are scarcely possible, especially in the case of a married man. occupied by a member of the Cadet service is such that he can only suit his style of living to his personal tastes or to the state of his finances to a limited extent. He must conformi fo a standard which is set for him by other people if he is not to diminish the credit of the service in the eyes both of unofficial Europeans and of the native communities. He cannot, therefore, live in a cheap house even if he could find one; he cannot dispense

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with the usual number of servants; he must belong to the usual clubs and generally live as other people do; and, if he is a married man or is in charge of a district, he must do a considerable amount of entertaining. It must be remembered that many parts of the Federated Malay States now contain, as the Colony has long contained, a prosperous and wealthy population of Europeans outside the Government service, a fact which naturally leads to the setting of a high standard of living. (Incidentally it may be observed that the Government probably derives some benefit from this state of affairs, for it appears to be generally admitted that, other things being equal, a man who lives comfortably enjoys better health and is therefore a more useful officer than one who leads an existence of parsimonious frugality.)

5. Having regard to these considerations it seems scarcely worth while to expend time in trying to settle the vexed question of the exact value of a salary of £ in the Malay Peninsula as compared with its value in England or elsewhere. The question of practical importance is, what scale of salaries is required to enable the officers of this service to live in the manner in which it is desirable that they should live?

6. It cannot be denied that the cost of living has increased since the sterling scheme was introduced, and in the last few years the increase has been very marked. After the dollar was fixed at 2s. 4. the prices in dollars of articles imported from Europe should, theoretically, have been reduced at once, and it was expected or at least hoped-that the prices of articles of local produce would adjust themselves in time to the increased sterling value of the dollar. Whether in the normal course such an adjustment would have been effected or whether the Chinaman or Malay would still have continued to demand a dollar for an article which had always been sold for a dollar, without regard to the rate of exchange, is now a question of merely academic interest, as the situation has been completely changed by the introduction of other factors. The development of the rubber industry has caused an enormous increase in the European community in the Peninsula ; districts which a few years ago contained at most three or four unofficial Europeans now contain scores, and the inevitable result has been that local prices have risen, owing to a greatly increased demand which has not been counterbalanced by an increased supply. So far as I can ascertain, there is no instance in which the 2s. id. dollar has for local purposes a greater purchasing power than the 1s. 8d. or 2s. dollar of a few years ago and there are many cases, e.g., the wages of servants, in which a considerably larger number of dollars has to be paid than was necessary in those days.

The effect of this rise has not been confined to articles of local origin; indirectly it has reacted on the prices of imported articles. The shopkeeper, equally with other people, is affected by the increase in local prices and, presumably, he finds it necessary to recoup himself by an increased profit on goods imported from Europe. At any rate, whatever the reason may be, it seems clear that there has been no material reduction in the dollar prices of imported articles and that there is no reasonable prospect of such a reduction being made.

7. I do not support the view--which seems to be widely held in the service-that officers are entitled to compensation because the Government has fixed the dollar at 2s. 4d. still less do I wish to suggest that an increase in the cost of living is in itself a sufficient reason for increasing salaries. I have referred to these points merely because they have an important bearing on the question of the adequacy or otherwise, in present circumstances, of the salaries set out in the sterling scheme-to my mind the only question that should be considered. Unless it can be shewn that the rates of pay fixed when the sterling scheme was introduced were considerably higher than was necessary, there seems to be good prima facie reason for supposing that they have ceased to be sufficient, at any rate in the lower grades of the service.

8. It is obvious, however, that while changes in local conditions may make it necessary to increase the salary which an officer receives in the Malay Peninsula, they afford no reason whatever for adding to the amount which he receives while on leave or to the pension which is granted to him on his retirement. Any additions to emoluments should therefore take the form, not of increased salary, but of an allowance to be drawn only while the officer is actually at his post. This principle has already been recognised in the grant in 1906 of the temporary local allowance of 10 per cent.

9. After very full examination of the materials which have been supplied to me, I have come to the conclusion that, except in the case of Class V. of the Federated Malay States service, the salaries provided in the sterling scheme-i.e., without the 10 per cent. allowance would be adequate and in the highest classes more than adequate-for unmarried officers. Marriage, however, materially alters the position, and this is a fact which cannot be ignored. The enforcement of a rule of celibacy would be impossible, even if it were desirable,--there is a good deal to be said on both sides-and it seems to

(18781-9.) Wt. 88889-G-198, 50, 2/11. D&S.

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