CO885-(11-12) — Page 482

403

FORLIC

PECORD

OFFICE

༄། ། ། ། ། །

بلسي

Peference -

C.O.882/12

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

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDONĮ

$

28

in the Government's financial position, and à fall in the cost of living which cannot be gauged but which is certainly slight. Whether these circumstances justify the conten- tion that the salaries of public servants, admittedly no more than adequate in 1930, are now excessive and ought to be permanently reduced for future entrants must depend upon whether the depression is regarded as permanent or temporary. If the depression be regarded as temporary (and I think a contrary view would be premature at the present time), a wholesale revision of salaries cannot be said to be necessary. The remedies proper to a temporary depression, such as a temporary levy on salaries, the reduction of non-pensionable staff, the suppression, wherever possible, of posts which fall vacant, and the careful scrutiny of all new appointments with a view to possible reductions of salary and the curtailment of expenditure on Public Work and Social Services, have already been adopted and can if necessary be extended.

36. On the other hand, it is impossible to ignore the consideration to which I referred at the beginning of this despatch, that until the salaries of future entrants, at any rate, to the Ceylon services are fixed on some scale which has the concurrence of the State Council there is no hope whatever that the pay and conditions of service of officials can be removed from the sphere of politics. The belief that the present salaries are excessive, more especially in the case of the superior services, is undoubtedly very firmly established in the Council and among the unofficial public, and although 1 hold it to be a mistaken belief it is nevertheless a factor that cannot be ignored. A pronouncement on the part of the Secretary of State or the Governor that the present salary scales were considered to be no more than adequate, and that, therefore, on the assumption that the depression was temporary, a wholesale revision of salaries was unnecessary, would immediately give rise to the accusation that the Council's efforts to meet the financial crisis and save the country from bankruptcy by reducing salaries notoriously excessive were being frustrated by the exercise of the Governor's special powers under the Constitution, and any financial difficulty in which the Government subsequently found itself would undoubtedly be attributed to the refusal to reduce the emoluments of future entrants to the public services. The effect on the public services and on the administration of the country of a situation in which the question of salaries forms a major political issue I have already characterized as deplorable. I do not believe there is any possibility of improvement in this situation until the salary scales of future entrants have been revised with the Council's concurrence. I can therefore see no alternative but to accede to the demand for revision of the salary scales

37. It remains to be considered whether you should express your willingness to consider a revision comparable in severity with that which the Commissioners recom mend. I have every reason to believe, as I have already explained, that the Commis- sioners' recommendations will meet with the strong approval of the Council, and 1 am very doubtful indeed whether there is the slightest prospect of the Council's being prepared even to consider any revision less drastic than that described in this report. To accede to the request for revision but at the same time to intimate that the salary scales proposed by the Commissioners were unacceptable, and that you would only he prepared to consider some more moderate revision, would have a scarcely better effect than outright refusal to agree to any revision at all. The end to be aimed at being the fixing, for future entrants, of salary scales which have your approval and the concur rence of the Council, I see very little prospect of that end being attained unless these salaries are fixed at scales comparable with those recommended by the Commissioners. I have already expressed the opinion that it is not unlikely that during the present depression Ceylonese of adequate attainments will be prepared to accept office even on these very low scales. If these scales are now adopted, and later prove to be inadequate owing to a lightening of the depression and a consequent decrease in unemployment, I have no doubt that it will be found possible to raise them with the concurrence of the Council. I believe that any marked improvement in the financial situation would bring about a considerable change in the Council's attitude towards the public services and their salaries.

•

38. I would advise, therefore, that you should authorize me to publish the fact that you will be prepared to consider a scheme for the revision of salaries for future entrants to the public services, involving reductions comparable with those recom- mended by the Commission. I consider that it should be made very clear that what- ever revised scheme may be adopted will not be applicable to officers now in the service except on their promotion to posts quite outside their ordinary line of promotion (see paragraphs 20 to 24 of this despatch). It will also, I think, be necessary to express the definite opinion that the new scales are quite inadequate for Europeans, and that the whole question of the future recruitment of Europeans will have to be reviewed, as I have suggested in paragraph 29. As regards the " emergency measures

20

described in Chapter 11 of the Commissioners' report, it will be clear from the opinions I have expressed in paragraphs 10 to 17 that I strongly advise against the adoption of any of them.

39. I shall be grateful to receive your instructions on the general questions I have raised in this despatch.

C. 93049/32 [No. 9].

(No. 620.)

No. 18.

I have, &c.,

GRAEME THOMSON,

Governor.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Answered by No. 20.]

SIR,

Downing Street, 14th November, 1932. I HAVE the honour to inform you that I have had under my consideration the Interim Report of the Salaries and Cadres Commission, printed as Sessional Paper No. 12 of 1932.

2. This Report not only suggests certain drastic reductions in the salaries of future entrants to the Public Service, but also proposes very material alterations in the conditions of service of existing officers.

3. The scales suggested by the Commissioners for particular appointments have apparently been fixed arbitrarily, and the reasons which led the Commissioners to vary the rates of reduction in regard to specific posts are not fully explained. In the circumstances I do not think I can with advantage discuss individual items in the proposals of the Commission. I can only lay down certain general principles from which I am not prepared to deviate.

4. In the first place, in the case of officers already serving, I am not, as at present advised, prepared to agree to any further reduction in the salaries or conditions of service. I have already refused to entertain proposals for the withdrawal of the privilege of commutation of pensions in the case of existing officers and certain other privileges. Public officers are entitled in general to the maintenance of the conditions of service under which they enlisted and responsibility for this maintenance is expressly imposed on the Secretary of State by the State Council Order in Council. I recognize that in times of acute financial depression public officers must be required to submit to a temporary reduction of their emoluments comparable to the sacrifices imposed upon the general public. The levy on salaries was adopted as a means of obtaining from the Puble Service the contribution which the financial needs of the Government appeared to require.

5. As regards the rates proposed by the Commission for future entrants, different considerations arise. I do not contest that it is very desirable that the rates of salaries for new entrants should be fixed at a scale with which the State Council would concur. While I regard the rates proposed for European entrants as wholly inadequate, I do not suggest reconsideration of the matter, since in existing circum- stances I anticipate that the recruitment of European officers will be confined to the filling of a limited number of posts for which special experience or qualifications are required. In every such case the salary will require to be fixed with special reference to the responsibilities of the post and to the possibility of obtaining suitable candidates, and I should not in general approve of the engagement of a European officer until I was convinced that satisfactory provision had been made by the State Council for the salary and conditions of service of the post.

6. As to future Ceylonese entrants, I am not satisfied that the scales proposed by the Commission are adequate to maintain the supply of fully qualified candidates. The Commissioners adduce no facts in relation to the rates of salaries payable in other employment or to the minimum rates necessitated by the cost of living, which would enable me to form any considered judgment on this point, and I do not propose to make any detailed comments at this stage. If the standard of recruits obtained should show signs of serious deterioration the matter would have to be carefully reconsidered.

7. I come now to the question of the applicability of any new scales of salary to officers promoted. I cannot approve of any alteration in the time scales under which officers are already serving. Moreover, in certain services which offer a definite