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5.
of a deficit, in any given year they and they alone will be called
upon to bear the burden.
The adoption of this policy, which as between the taxpayer and the civil servant is one of "heads I win and tails you lose"
has profoundly disquieted the service.
5.
Your Petitioners feel that the adoption of such a policy
could only be justified if it were shown either that the salaries
paid to members of the civil service were excessive or that they
could not be paid without the imposition of unduly oppressive
taxation.
6.
On the question of the reasonableness of the salaries Your
Petitioners crave leave to refer to statements made by the then
Governor (Sir William Peel) and by the Colonial Secretary (The
Honourable Sir Thomas Southorn) when the report of the Salaries
Commission was submitted to the Legislative Council.
The Governor said:-
..
11 If we accept, as I maintain we must, the recommendations of
the Salaries Commission as being just, then I consider that
the payment of the new rates becomes a mere act of justice;
it is in fact a debt which the Government must of necessity
discharge unless it is shown that it is absolutely impossible
for it to find the money. The payment of adequate salaries
to Government officers for services rendered is just as much
a legitimate debt as the payment to a contractor for services
performed. If it had been possible to submit the report of
the Salaries Commission to the Secretary of State earlier,
it is probable that the new rates would have been brought
into force as from the 1st January, 1929. If that had been
done I can hardly imagine that a request would have been
made to Government to pay its officers at a reduced rate
when the dollar dropped below a certain figure. In short,
once the recommendations of the Commission are accepted as
fair and reasonable, I consider that this Government is
bound in honour to give effect to them."
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