REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE PETITION OF MR. J. J. PIERCY.

Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives, 1856 Session I

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE PETITION OF MR. J. J. PIERCY.

EXTRACTS FEOM THE VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Votes, No. 59, Tuesday, July 15, 1856. 11. Petition of Mr. J. J. Piercy :—Mr. Brodie, pursuant to noticc, moved, That the copy of the petition of Mr. J. J. Piercy, with the minutes attached thereto, he referred to a Select Committee to report upon ; the Committee to consist of Mr. Beckham, 3! . - uf), ]\[ i. Hal], \ J , and the mover, with leave to call for persons and papers; to report this dav week. Question put and passed.

Votes, No. 63, Tuesday, July 22, 1856. 6. Postponement:—On motion of Mr. Brodie, leave was given to the Committee on the petition of 3lr. J. J. Piercy to postpone their report to this day week.

Votes, No. 69, Tuesday, July 29, 1856. 13. Petition of Mr. J. J. Piercy:—Mr. Brodie, Chairman of the Committee on the petition of Mr. J. J. Piercy, brought up their report, which was read and ordered to be printed

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REPORT.

The Select Committee of the House of Representatives, appointed July 15, 1856, to consider and report on the Petition of Mr. Piercy, have considered the matter to them referred, and have agreed to the following report:— Before reporting upon the merits of the Petition itself, your Committee feel called upon to remark that it is one addressed, not to the House of Representatives, but to His Excellency the Govern or, and seems to be still under the consideration of the Executive Government. It appears to your Committee that with cases so situated it would not, as a general rule, be desirable for your House to interfere; and if, in consideration of the length of time during which the Petition has remained unanswered, and of the peculiar circumstances of the present session, you should deem it expedient to take any steps in the matter, your Committee trust that this proceeding may not on any account be drawn into a precedent. It appears to your Committee, after taking all necessary evidence, that the general facts of the case referred to them are as follows .* — Previously to the Ist June, 1854, Mr. Piercy held the appointment of Clerk and Interpreter in the Resident Magistrate s Court, at a salary of £200 per annum. On the above date he was appointed Clerk to tne Legislative Council, tor which office an annual salary of £200 was subsequently voted. He continued to receive both the above salaries until June, 1855, when he was informed that the pay of his appointment in the Resident Magistrate's Court was raised to £250, but that under Section 11 of the Regulations of the Colonial Service he could not receive full salary for the two offices. Thenceforward he was paid for the latter office half salary only, or £125 per annum, and he was also made to refund the sum ot £-13 155., which he had since Ist October, 185-1, received in excess of such half salary. After carefully considering the portion of the Colonial Regulations above adverted to, your Committee are unanimously of opinion, that it is intended to apply to cases only in which the duties of a vacant office are performed temporarily by the holder of another appointment, and that it is not applicable to cases like the one under consideration, where it is assumed that two distinct and separate offices may, without detriment to the public service, be permanently held by one and the same person. They therefore recommend that the amount which Mr. Piercy has, under the operation of this rule, been called upon to refund, should be repaid to him, and that he should be paid as Clerk in the Resident Magistrate's Court at the rate of £200 per annum to the 30th June, 1855. For the period subsequent to that date, the salary voted for the office by the General Assembly is £125 per annum ; and as this appears, by the printed estimates, to have been done under a full koowledge of the circumstances ot the case, your Committee do not feel justified in recommending any alteration in that sum. Before concluding their report, your Committee desire to make a few remarks upon a principle which it appears, from the evidence of the Auditor-General, has been acted on by the Executive Government in the regulation of the salaries of public servants. From this evidence it appears that the Government has taken upon itself to eniorce, or not, at its own discretion, the rule adverted to in the former part of this report, whereby a public officer, discharging tne duties ot two separate appointments, is not allowed, in certain c. ses, to receive the full salary attached to both office". The Government has enforced the rule when it thought the amount of tne Iwo salaries more than ought to be paid to one persoii, and has abstained from appl ing it t. hen it considered the emoluments cf ■ l ; e two offices not move than a proper remuneration to be received by the hoider oi them; thus virtually varying, at its own discretion, the appropriation ot the nublic money previously decided on by the Legislature. It appears to your Committee that, even under the system upon which the affairs of ihe Colony lave hitiit: ',o been administered, this is not a power which to be cntiiuted to the Executive

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Government, and they are unanimously of opinion that, under existing circumstances, its exercise ought immediately to he discontinued. If the leanmeratiw . " offices, held conjointly, is more than ought to be received by one public oraeer, the circumstance should be brought under the notice of your House, and the case be left for youx decision. Y .. .. la, it ought, in the absence of any change of circumstances, or other special. i to by the Executive Government. Tour Committee cannot but feel that anything liko a ...yf.ematic do -.rture from this rule would constitute an undue interference on the part of the Executive Government with that exclusive direction and control of the public expenditure which is the especial duty and privilege of the representatives of the people. WALTER BRODIE, Chairman. Committee Room, House of Representatives, July 29, 1856.