CO885(3-4) — Page 396

CO882 & CO885 Colonial Office Confidential Prints 理藩院機密印刊 All

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the office in the strictest sense of the word pro- visionally only until his appointment is con- firmed or superseded by Her Majesty. He is at liberty also to recommend a candidate for the final appointment, but it must be distinctly understood that the Secretary of State has the power of recommending another instead. In these cases the confirmation or other final ap- pointment takes places in the form already mentioned, of a warrant under the Royal sign manual and signet.*

70. It is of course impossible to lay down any general rule for deciding in what cases the recommendation of a governor will, or will not, be ultimately sanctioned and confirmed by the Queen; but in general it may be stated, that Her Majesty will be advised to regard more favourably appointments which are in the nature of promotions of meritorious public servants, than appointments made in favour of persons new to the public service; and that when any new office has been created the Governor's recommendation for filling it up will carry with it less weight than in the case of offices which the Governor may have found already established. In the cases of such new offices there will always be more than usual reason to anticipate that an appointment will be made directly from this country.

71. Appointments of gentlemen connected with the Governor, or who have accompanied him to the colony as private socretaries or otherwise, are open to much objection, and will rarely be confirmed. Provisional appointments of this kind should be reported to the Secretary of State without any recommendation as to the mode in which the office shall be permanently filled. Should such an appointment be made at a time when a governor is about to leave the colony, his successor will be expected to report on the mode in which the office should be per- manently filled.

72. It is further to be understood, that, in determining the propriety of appointments from this country or from the colony, regard will probably be had to the comparatively advanced state of wealth and population in each colony, and to the number of properly qualified can. didates among whom the local authorities may have the opportunity of making a selection.

73. In the distribution of the patronage of the Government, in the colonies, great weight must always be attached to local services and experience. Every Governor will therefore make, once in each year, a confidential report of the claims of candidates, whether already employed in the public service or not, whom he may consider to possess those qualifications. in order that, when a vacancy or an oppor tunity for promotion occurs, the Secretary of State may have before him additional

See Circular Deste", S.pt mb r 30, 1969.

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means, besides the immediate recommenda- tion of the Governor, for judging how far the particular candidate recommended by the Governo is on the whole the best qualified, and whether a candidate of proper qualifications is to be found in that or in any other colony. The Governor will ascertain and report upon the qualifications of other candidates, of whom he may have less knowledge, when he sees sufficient reason for supposing that the public service might gain by their admission into it; but in the application of these rules much must be left to the Governor's discretion.

74. In reporting a vacancy in any office under the Crown, of which the emoluments exceed 2001. per annum, or in reporting the creation of any such office, the Governor will furnish in the form of the schedule inserted in the Appendix (p. 312), and in duplicate, full particulars respecting the nature and incidents of the office, and will state in the covering despatch whether persons filling that or similar offices have been usually selected by the Secre- tary of State or by the Governor.

75. In the case of the chief judicial and chief fiscal offices in a colony in which the Crown is responsible for the appointments, local connexion with the colony by birth. family ties, or otherwise, will be considered, generally speaking, to render a candidate in- eligible.

76. All salaried public officers are prohibited from engaging in trade or connecting them- selves with any commercial undertaking with- out leave from the Governor, approved by the Secretary of State. As a general rule this pro- hibition will be made absolute in the case of officers whose remuneration is fixed on the assumption that their whole time is at the dis- posal of the Government.

77. No public officer is to undertake any private agency in any matter connected with the exercise of his public duties.

78. Whenever half-pay officers borne on the half-pay of Her Majesty's army or navy, or in the military and commissariat departments, shall be appointed to a civil situation in any of the colonies, a report of the appointment, specify- ing the date and the amount of salary, is to be made immediately to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, which will be transmitted by him to the proper authorities in this country. Pro- motions in the Civil Service of half-pay officers are also to be notified forthwith to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the information of the respective authorities.

79. No paid officer under the government of a colony can be permitted to be the editor of a newspaper, or to take any active part in the management of it. He may furnish articles signed with his name upon subjects of general interest, abstaining from writing on questions which can properly be called political, or dis- cussing the measures of the Government, or

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TITLE CO. 885

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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