Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, James to Lytton, Edward George Earle Bulwer 23 May 1859, CO 60:4, no. 6954, 380.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (2), Enclosures (untranscribed) (1), Other documents (1), Marginalia (2).
Douglas forwards a copy of a letter from
Captain W.D. Gosset, the Treasurer, and Mr W. Hamley, the Collector of Customs, of British Columbia, forcibly representing the utter inadequacyof their respective salaries. Douglas reports the temporary increase of their salaries and seeks permanent approval for the increase. Blackwood minutes that
we were all of opinion that the Salaries of the Civil Servants, with the exception of Colonel Moody—who has £1,200 a year exclusive of military pay, were fixed at a very low rate.
No. 157
I have the honor to forward to you herewith the Copy of a
Letter addressed to me by Captain W.D. Gosset, the Treasurer,
and Mr W. Hamley, the Collector of Customs, of British Columbia,
forcibly representing the utter inadequacy of their Salaries to enable
them to maintain even a show of respectability in the Country.
I
2. I already have had the honor to bring to your notice the
relative value of Salaries here and in England,
and have suggested
the rate which I considered was but a fair remuneration for the
principle Officers of the Government. I would now earnestly beg
you to adopt some measures which may place those Officers in a
position suitable to the responsibilities devolving upon them.
With the present rate
of Salary they cannot live independently as
Gentlemen without running into debt, and if they do not live as
gentlemen their status as public Officers and in Society is lost.
2. I already have had the honor to bring to your notice the
relative value of Salaries here and in England,
In desph 544/59, I suppose.
The Treasurer has £500 a year. The Collector of Customs £400.
3. I would most respectfully submit
submit that such a state of
things should not be permitted to exist. It is in the first place
unworthy of the high standing of our Country, and in the second
place it is the means of weakening if not obliterating the
prestige of the local government.
submit that such a state of
things should not be permitted to exist. It is in the first place
unworthy of the high standing of our Country, and in the second
place it is the means of weakening if not obliterating the
prestige of the local government.
4. Under such circumstances I feel sure you will pardon me
in pressing the matter upon you, and I sincerely hope you will
see the necessity of revising the present scale of Salaries.
5. Indeed so urgent do I consider the cases of the Treasurer
and the Collector of Customs that I am compelled to afford them
immediate relief to save them from debt
debt, and therefore, until
the matter can be referred to you with a view to a suitable fixed
Salary being granted them, and to their being placed in a proper
position in this Colony as in others, I have, as a temporary
measure to relieve them merely from existing pressure, granted
an increase in the Salary of the Treasurer at the rate of £300
per Annum, and in that of the Collector of Customs of £200 per
Annum, on the provisional List.
debt, and therefore, until
the matter can be referred to you with a view to a suitable fixed
Salary being granted them, and to their being placed in a proper
position in this Colony as in others, I have, as a temporary
measure to relieve them merely from existing pressure, granted
an increase in the Salary of the Treasurer at the rate of £300
per Annum, and in that of the Collector of Customs of £200 per
Annum, on the provisional List.
6. I trust you may not disapprove of this measure. I have
the most earnest desire to exercise the most scrupulous economy in
the expenditure of the public money, but the
the case I have now
brought before you is one in which I could not justly refuse assistance.
the case I have now
brought before you is one in which I could not justly refuse assistance.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Merivale
See 6987/59 recd by this Mail. I annex a copy of a Parly return which will apprize the Duke of Newcastle of the amount of salary assigned to each of the public officers of B. Columbia. The Estimate (£43,000) has not yet been voted.
See 6987/59 recd by this Mail. I annex a copy of a Parly return which will apprize the Duke of Newcastle of the amount of salary assigned to each of the public officers of B. Columbia. The Estimate (£43,000) has not yet been voted.
I think I am not wrong in saying that we were all of opinion
that the Salaries of the Civil Servants, with the exception
of Colonel Moody—who has £1,200 a year exclusive of military pay,
were fixed at a very low rate. Indeed I always contended at
too low a rate, but Sir E. Lytton was apprehensive of
assigning salaries which should be regarded as excessive and
preferred commencing, at all events with a low scale. The
complaints, which were to be anticipated have now overtaken us,
and a revision of the salaries must, I fear, be the consequence.
I add 544, 5435, & 5893/59, which with 6987 will, I hope, put
the matter clearly before you.
Other documents included in the file
Draft reply, Newcastle to Douglas, No. 7, 26 July 1859, which reports that Gosset and Hamley knew their salaries before they accepted their positions and that "it is impossible…to
make any addition to the Parliamentary Estimate for the service of B. Columbia in this year."
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
W.D. Gosset and W. Hamley to Douglas, 9 May 1859, declaring that their meagre salaries deny them "the common comforts of life."