Highest Jobs For

Trained Men

British Colonial Service System

Letter to the Editor.

I HAVE been interested in the letters appearing in your excellent journal under the heading, “Highest Jobs Withheld from Trained Men”, in which your correspondents express their dis satisfaction at the annointment of ad ministrators to Australian Pacific terri tories from sources outside the Islands service.

As one of your corresnondents justly remarks, there seems, under the present circumstances, no great inducement for qualified young men to enter the service of anv of the territories under Austra lian rule.

Your correspondent from Rabaul (“P.1.M.” Januarv, 1938) quotes from Sir Reginald St. Johnston’s work, “From a Colonial Governor’s Note-book”. Sir Reginald, in referring to the dishearten ing practice of having outsiders nut over the heads of men in the Colonial Ser vice, when annroaching the time when thev might justlv exnect a reward for their labours, states: “In late years, how ever, there has been a change for the better, and a definite nronouncement sat isfactory to the Colonial Service was made on the subject at the Colonial Con ference of 1930, in London”.

“In view of this vexed question in the Islands services to-day”, vour correspon dent continues, “it would perhaps be helnful to discover what definite pro nouncement satisfactory to the Colonial Service was made at the Colonial Con ference in 1930”.

I attach the following extracts, taken from the Colonial Office Conference in question, hoping that in some measure they may be helpful to all concerned.

Extract from the Colonial Office Con ference (1930). —Summary of proceedings

(Cmd. 3628), page 93, Recommendation 5: “We strongly endorse the recommenda tion that, in the selection of Governors, prior consideration should be given to the suitability of officers holding high posts in the Colonial Services; and, indeed, we consider that nothing would be more calculated to render the proposed uni fied service attractive to entrants and to raise its prestige”.

Page 94. —The conference passed the following resolution: “The Conference is in general agreement with the conclus ions arrived at by the Committee on Re commendations 1 to 13 of the Warren Fisher Committee Report”.

Extract from Report of a Committee on the system of appointment in the Colon ial Office, and the Colonial Services (Cmd. 3554): D. The Highest Officers.

“In concluding this part of our Report, we venture to offer an observation on the subject of the appointments to the high est offices in the Colonies.

“We have referred to the special meth od adopted in considering persons for the appointment of Governors of Colon ies, and we are aware that in the ma jority of cases such appointments are the prizes given to the best Officers of the Colonial Service, as the culminating op portunity of their overseas careers. The outstanding influence and importance of the Governor in his colony is such that only the most proven and experienced men can be regarded as suitable for such appointments. We therefore recommend that the quest for Governors should first be made among Officers holding high ap pointments in the Colonial Services, and that only after the qualifications of such have been fully considered should the question arise of an appointment from outside the service. We believe that such a declaration of policy would be a valu able encouragement to, and would in crease the prestige of, the whole over seas service”.

I am, etc.,

Retired Colonial Service

Tanganyika,

Officer.

British East Africa.