CO129-376 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [3-4] — Page 439

426

The appointment of a non-Cadet in the past was deliber ately made in order to secure continuity, the salary being fixed accordingly with a wide range of incre- ments. (On this point please see the papers as to Mr. Crofton's appointment which I have not with me). Continuity cannot be secured if the post is held by a Cadet who is always likely to be shifted either to an acting appointment or on promotion.

6. (c) I should rather have liked to see Mr. Clementi's proposal adopted but in view of Sir F. Lugard's opinion we can hardly support it.

Gov. 42645

6. (a) I agree that the appointment of a Cadet Officer to be Assistant Treasurer (in place of the Assessor) is desirable, as it will afford an opport tunity of giving a Cadet officer training in finance which will fit him to be Treasurer in future. think that this is really very necessary.

I

The remainder of the despatch deals with the idea of appointing 'legal cadets',

I can see no advantage in the proposals, especially if we knock on the head the idea that

It is Cadets can expect the Chief Justiceship &c. impossible to be sure that a man who takes up law for the Civil Service examination really has any

He generally does so in aptitude for that study.

It is order to get marks in a very easy subject.

much better to let a man discover in the early years of his service what his real bent is and to specialize

then.

Moreover, the idea of giving preference to any particular

yog

particular class of candidate in the examination is in my

opinion impracticable. The odds are that none of the men

who would normally be eligible for cadetships, would

have taken law in the examination and we should have to

pass over them till we came to somebody probably near the

end of the list, who had taken this subject, and thus lose

better men and cause considerable discontent.

The alternative of selecting certain men from

the chosen cadets and letting them study law in England is

equally objectionable. What I have said above as to its being better to let a man discover his natural bent in the

early years of his service applies here, and in any case, the time spent in England is more than likely to be wasted.

I consider that the best course is to continue as

at present to appoint all Cadets on the same footing, leaving them to specialize after they have had a little time to think about it, and, in order to provide qualified pen for the minor legal posts, to encourage any Cadet who

wishes it to be called to the Bar, in the same way as we are now doing in the Malay Peninsula, i.e., advancing the fees for joining an Inn and giving bonuses for first

classes in the Bar examinations.

I suggest therefore that a reply should be sent on the general lines of this minute, expressing the opinion that in the circumstances it does not seem clear that any additional cadets will be required beyond the two already asked for and saying that therefore we do not propose to ask the C.S.C. for any more unless after reading our reply he considers that more are necessary to supply the

normal requirements of the service.

(Cadet officers are expensive luxuries and I

(1300). WL.20,024-26. 6600. 11/08. A&EW. (15,613).

18,912-27. 6000. 10/09.

think