THE £500 BONUS TO MR CONYERS.
The Wellington correpondent of the Lyttel. ton Times telegraphs :—
Mr Conyers' letter of June 18, 1879, re bonus to him self, has been laid upon tho table by leave. It is as follows :—" I have the honour to submit for your approval a voucher for the bonus which you wore so good as to promise me last July in lieu of an increase of salary. It being your opinion that it would be more convenient that the increased remuneration (which you were pleased to consider me entitled to) should take the shape of an annual bonus rather than of an addition to my salary, I have ventured to put the increase at £500. I do not, however, presume to dictate, or even to suggest, but desire in respect of the amount to place myself entirely in your hands." Mr Conyers urges that he has had disadvantages not experienced by general managers on other lines in New Zealand. He &ays: "They, when taking office, found ready to their hand an organised system of machinery in perfect working order, and an experienced and thoroughly trained staff. In Southland I had to instruct and organise a staff, and when my charge wag extended to the North I had to contend with disorder ill discipline, and incompetency ; and it devolved upon me again to create a staff out of the most unpromising materials. It is a fact that where I had one man who possessed a little knowledge of railway work, I had a dozen who had everything to learn." He quotes the salaries of general managers— Great Northern, £3500 London and North-western, equally liberal ; London, Chatham, and Dover, reported at £7000. He does not vouch for the exact amounts, but he says that the manager and secretary of a small railway in the West of England, 76 miles in length, gets £1200. He simply alludes to these as showing the value which is set in England upon the acquirements, qualifications, anil
experience which enable railways to be administered successfully. The letter is addressed to the Minister tor Public Works.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 1501, 21 August 1880, Page 14
Word Count
352THE £500 BONUS TO MR CONYERS. Otago Witness, Issue 1501, 21 August 1880, Page 14
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