CO129-480 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1923 [4-7] — Page 144

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extraordinary merit, if it had not been laid down that Clause 7 of the Pension Minute is not meant to apply to the case of services, however exceptional in value, which fall within the scope of an officer's duty - a ruling with which I fully concur owing to the dangerous precedent which would be established if it were taken to apply to cases of exceptional efficiency in the discharge of the duties which an officer is paid to perform.

There is, however, an altermtive to which I should be glad to receive Your Grace's approval, The reason for the smallness of Mr. Perkins' pension is that he entered the service at the comparatively late age of thirty-six as an Executive Engineer. Had he entered it in the usual manner as an Assistant Engineer at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five his pension would have been much larger, while I think it probable that his services would have been far less valuable. Before he joined the Colonial Service he held several appointments under public bodies at home, having been Divisional Surveyor and Engineer for the County of Middlesex, District Engineer for the City District of Bristol and District Engineer for the Clifton District of Bristol, and I feel sure that much of the value of his services, especially in the matter of town-planning to which he has devoted much time and energy with excellent results, has been due to the experience gained in those posts. What I desire to suggest therefore is that service under those public bodies should be taken into account in the calculation of Mr. Perkins' pension and be treated as if it had been service in this Colony. I have been unable to ascertain the length of his service in these posts but the particulars are no doubt in the possession of the

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