CO885-8 — Page 202

PUBLE RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

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C.O. 885

8

ليسانس سانس

COPYRIG

RD OFFICE, LONDON

T PERMISSION OF THE CED PHOTOGPHIC- HOTOGRAPHS.NOT TO

IEN

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a responsibility and an amount of work which it would be impossible for them to undertake, unless their present work were to be delegated to the Seniors, which in turn would involve the creation of a class of senior Juniors to undertake the work now If the salaries of all performed by the Seniors. these classes remained as at present, such a course would simply mean that the higher staff of the Colonial Office, which is even now paid on a lower scale than that of other similar Departments of State, would be paid even less for performing duties which must be admitted to include a large pro- portion of the most important that the permanent staff of any Department can be called upon to discharge. If, on the other hand, the scale of pay were increased all through, it is not clear where the advantage would come in.

The position of the Permanent Under-Secretary remains to be considered, but of that there is little to be said. It is obvious that there must always be one permanent bead of a Department of State. The functions of such an officer are so obvious that There is, it is unnecessary to describe them. however, one feature in the functions of the Permanent Under-Secretary in the Colonial Office which demands notice. It has been a rule that all papers on their way to the Secretary of State should pass through the Permanent Under-Secretary. In former days, when the work of the office was a quarter of what it is now, this rule could be observed without inconvenience, but now it imposes an almost intolerable strain on the Permanent Under Secretary. If the sole duty of the Permanent Under-Beoretary were to master the papers which go before the Secretary of State, it would be But he has obviously well within his power.

numerous other functions some altogether outside the ordinary business of the Office—and including the final disposal of many papers which do not go to the Secretary of State. There are a certain number of papers which it is necessary that the Secretary of State should see and possibly act upon, but which are of merely transitory interest, and do not involve questions affecting the permanent Personal policy of His Majesty's Government. questions might be cited as an instance, and there was at one time an understanding that the Political Under Secretary should deal with such questions. As a matter of fact the Assistant Under-Secretaries dó communicate direct with the Secretary of State on many matters which are not defined, nor is it possible to define them, and it is suggested that ibby should exercise a still wider diseretion, taking of course at the same time a wider responsibility, so that no paper should be sent to the Secretary of State which can safely be disposed of otherwise.

It is singgombed that the above considerations show that no economy in working can be effected by a modification of the present organisation of the Tipper. Stuff, and that theve, remains only the quisation arkas the numbers of the various pionnen that fisif” should be; and home ie sie fused by milky, of forecasting what the amount of

in the future.

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From Table B it will be seen that, although by far the largest portion of the great increase of work which has taken place since 1895 has fallen to the South African and West African Depart- ments, there has been a considerable increase in other Departments as well. Table B does not imply that the increase in these cases has fallen all along on a nominal Department of four men, for the work has been from time to time redis- tributed amongst the Departments as far as possible in order to equalise it. And whereas in 1895 there were only four Geographical Departments, there are now seven. This general increase indicates that, beyond the partial substitution of Junior Clerks by Second Division Clerks already suggested, no reduction of the present Staff can be contem- plated. On the other hand, although the pressure on many members of the Staff is severe, there is not as yet sufficient justification for the addition of another Department or another Assistant Under- Secretary. The work is not, even now, evenly distributed, and as far as possible, this will of course be rectified from time to time. But owing to the close common interests in certain groups of Colonies, it is not possible to carry this principle to perfection. Most of the West Indian Colonies, for instance, must be grouped together, and in the most prominent instances of a disproportionate number of papers failing to a Department-viz., the two South African Departments-further redis- tribution is not at present possible. Fortunately in this case an unusual proportion of the work has been of a kind which can be dealt with by Juniors

or Second Division Clerks, and it may be hoped that the total amount of South African work will not increase at anything like the same rate as it has increased lately. If the administration of the Central and East African Protectorates were now transferred from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office, another Department, if not two, would be required, and another Assistant Under-Secretary. But possibly before that time arrives some relief may have resulted from the grant of self govern- ment to the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. If on the other hand the total amount of work continues to increase, the much larger question will arise whether it will be possible for one Secretary of State to undertake the duties now imposed on the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The numbers of the Upper Staff on the estimates for 1903-4 are distributed as follows:—

Of the four. Assistant Under-Secretaries, each, as already stated, undertakes the work of two Geographical Departments, except the Legal Assistant Under-Secretary, who undertakes one Geographical Department in addition to his legal work. The work of the General and Chief Clerk' Departments is distributed amongst the Assistant Under-Secretaries according to subjects, the greater part falling to the Legal Assistant Under-Secretary. The eight Principal Clerks, one of whom is Chief Clerk, and the eight Senior Clerks are allotted to the seven Geographical Departments and to the General Department.