CO885-(11-12) — Page 406

328

PUBLIC

RECORD OFFICE

Reference:-

"

C.O.882/12

COUTRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

BF

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

>

168

salary above Rs.6,000: a certain increase was made in the lower grades, but many of the lesser officials were left to the war allow- ances which they enjoyed on the Herchenroder scale. When salaries were finally revised, they were placed, in the vast majority of cases, at the most convenient round figure reached by the addition of the 15 per cent. allocation to the salaries as revised by Sir Alfred Herchenroder. The result was that the Colonial finances had to bear a greatly increased burden both for personal emoluments and for pensions, and also, though the conditions in which the increases were made were admittedly temporary, the burden was permanent. Since 1922 a number of increases have been made but they have been on no general scheme and need not be discussed in detail.

7. With this history before us, we cannot be surprised at being continually urged to find our major objective of retrenchment in the salaries of the Civil Service. The case is more obvious because wages have once more lagged behind prices and the index numbers on the basis of which the Herchenroder Committee began the increase of salaries now show that the local price level is only 27 per cent. above the level of 1914. The movement which Mr. Denham anticipated has at last been made and civil servants who were rightly given their share of the prosperity of 1921-22 and who then obtained, to take only the case of the higher officials, an increase of between 40 and 50 per cent., must now expect like any other class of the community to sacrifice some of their benefit. Prices no longer justify the present rate of pay and the Civil Service now is the most attractive form of employment. It continues to enjoy the salaries and pensions of a boom year, and business and professional men enviously compare their incomes with those which a clerk employed on the most ordinary routine may now be obtain- ing if he has reached by seniority the upper grades of the general clerical service.

The civil services stand on an island of prosperity in the flood of depression. If they are not to become a privileged caste, their pay also must be adjusted to present-day conditions.

8. While in these circumstances we regard the retrenchment of public salaries as an inevitable measure we cannot subscribe to the view that it is the only measure to be adopted for meeting the financial crisis. On the contrary, we hold strongly that it is an expedient which must not be abused. It is natural enough that those whose incomes from trade have been steadily declining for several years past should call for a general cut of as much as 25 per cent. from civil service pay but such a proceeding would, in our opinion, be wholly unjust. A civil servant who has been not merely enabled but deliberately invited to raise his standard of living by a permanent addition to his pay, cannot in fact be restored to his original economic position by depriving him of that addition. Some endeavour must therefore be made to arrive at a rate of reduction

169

which while fair to the general public will take due account of the improved standard of comfort which has followed from an adjust- ment of civil service salaries which at the time it was made pur- ported to be permanent. For determining what would be a fair scale of retrenchment in the circumstances of Mauritius we bear in mind the fact that, whereas in England there has already been a steady reduction in the war bonus, in Mauritius the services continue to enjoy the full present and pensionable benefit of their war allow- ances the Herchenroder scale of increase was 30 per cent. over 1914 rates, but the allowances raised this percentage to from 65 to 50 per cent. in the case of clerks, and to over 40 per cent. in the case of officers. Not only have the lower grades had this very great increase during the last twelve years, but they are also in a position to obtain the full benefit of the sudden drop in food prices--a con- sideration which applies with far less force to the higher officers- while, under our revenue proposals, they will certainly be relieved of some present charges, and will in a great number of cases not be exposed to any extra taxation. We feel justified in adopting a uniform 10 per cent. rate. A graded scale would either relieve the lower ranks without adequate reason, or would press too hardly on the higher officers who come within the scope of new taxes.

9. The general principle which we follow is to return to the scheme of salaries, not including war allowances, laid down by the Herchenroder Committee, but to limit the reduction in any one case to 10 per cent. of the existing salary.

We recommend that there should be a general çut of 10 per cent. in personal emoluments on the following conditions and subject to the following limitations:-

(1) The cut should be applied not only to salaries but also to all allowances, whether paid from general revenues or from special funds, other than allowances for lodging or rent.

(2) The cut should be made with effect from 1st January, 1932, to the extent of only half the amount admissible for the full year.

(3) The cut should be applied also to those posts and allow- ances the abolition of which we have proposed in our chapters on reorganization of departments.

(4) The pay of officers remaining in service should be reduced by the full amount in the financial year 1932-33 and thereafter. (5) The pay of an officer at present holding a permanent post should not be reduced so as to make his pay less than that which was determined for the same post by the Herchenroder Committee. This condition does not apply to cases where the nature of the post has subsequently been changed. Nor must it be taken as excluding any officer from the scope of a revision of the system of increments or promotion current in 1919: we are proposing this revision in a later paragraph.