CO129-456 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1919 [10-12] — Page 377

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should continue to be paid.

3.

The next principle of general application

with which I desire to deal is that of leave.

The Commission appear to have been under some misapprehension when writing paragraph 10 of their report, since they have taken no account of the principle of commated half-pay leave which was introduced in 1911 and under which an officer usually draws full pay for any period up to ten months. That system appears to me to be satisfactory but I think that it might be improved to a slight extent. An officer should as a rule take leave to Europe about once in five years. (To that extent I concur in the view expressed by the Commission but I need hardly say that I am wholly unable to endorse the view that he should be able to demand leave as a right in every fifth year. I do not understand how any administration could be carried on satisfactorily if officers were in a position to insist on taking leave without regard to the exigencies of the service). An officer who has had 5 years' service will, supposing that he has not taken any vacation leave in the year in which he goes on leave or in the preceding year, be eligible for 3 months' vacation leave and ten months' half-pay leave, which may be commuted to five months' full pay leave. This however will only give 8 months' leave in all, (unless part of the leave is taken

L

as half-pay leave and not commited) while the Commission contemplate periods of 9 months and the present rule actually allows 10 months if the officer is eligible for so much commutable half-pay leave. In present circumstances, seeing that the voyage either way may extend to five or even six weeks, I do not think that a period of ten months' absence is excessive and I would propose to relax the rule so as to

enable