CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1908, Page 5

CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE TRANSVAAL.

A MOTION OF CENSURE. Bj Te'rg-aiiU.— Vtes» Association — Gipvi , K Jit < LONDON, 7th Febru.uv. ' In the llous3 of Commons yesterday •jir, (>iiopi( Parker, Conservative mciiioar lor 'u.ivesond, eubmiifc-«d an amendment to the Addres*-iivll ? p; v censuring tae GovcvnmLMjt for not safeguarding the lutercbtb of Civil Hervanls in the Irartsvaal. ' Mr. \yimtcu Chnr hill. Pnrliammtnry upcieuu-y tr. the (Jolom.M Office, AcnleU tiiofc Gc-nsral Botha had dismissed Uiitish otlicials to iiiakf room fr.r JJutchlflon. iho CoJunial Office would try to Una employment for those Civil "Skrvr.nts w:io6j ofuces had but-n abolished Ihcro was reason to bdieve 'that the rranav.uil Oovernmenl co.il:'iiiplatot; -a' pension schems. The amendment was withdrawn. •Writing to his paper in- September iast, the Johannesburg correspondent of the London Daily xdeg:~ph remarked —(it will.ba noted that lie docs not impute xavoumism):— "A return of officials of tho Tvansvaal Public Service who were retrenched, or for other reasons ceased to be employed, during the financial year lEQ6-7, yields sonic interesting figures. Tho idlifr" ,' it should be noted,, rokies to th» Civil Scivieo proper, and therefore does not include the Cjnti-al South African milways or tic- South African Constabulary, which aro luitlor tho administrative control of tho Inter-Colonial Council. The officials of the Civil Serviiw who wpie irtrenched durbg the fatal twelve months onded on 30th Juno lufct, number 179. Of these 155 weic compensated, the remaining twenty- I four, liko tha poor dog in the nuisory tale, had none' Tho 155 received by way of gratuities in 'respect of their past service, exclusive of pusions, £22,540 15s Id. Iv addition-, they had accumulated leave, for which "they received the c-ish equivalent— £lß,o33 12s. Other compensation' totalled .03079 3s 7d. Retrenched Transvaal officials .cceived, therefore, a sum of £44,461 lbs 8d during the period referred to. In addition to the victims of retrenchment 2<iO officials ceased to be employed for other reasons,' which included everything from deatli to 'conviction by the civil power.' Of these only fourteen recoived gratuities, which amounted u> £3463 6b lOd. Tho cash equivalent of the leave earned was £2171 11s 6(1. 'Other compensation' in this category figured at j5339 17s 4d— a total of £6974 los Bd. This sum added to the 'compensatie' granted to tho unfortunates who were retrenched gives us a grand total of £50,436 6s 4d, as the cost of dispensing with tho services of 390 members of the Civil Service of tho colony." Tne reductions during the yeac indicated a total saving in salaries of £143,360, from which must be deducted the annual value amounting to some £10,000 or £12.000, 6f newly-created posts to which appointments have been made from outside Iho service. These latter appointments have boen subjected to some criticism, it being urged that among the army of retrenched servants enough could have been found capablo of filling the positions.