No. 39

I have the honor to forward to Your Lordship the usual copies of
an Act which has been passed by the Legislative Council entitled—

An Act to provide for a permanent Civil List.

2. The Attorney General's Report is enclosed.

3. A suspending clause has been inserted in order that the
measure should have your full consideration before coming into
effect, but I have no doubt that your Lordship will regard it as
an act of common justice to the present Official servants, that
the appointments which they hold should be placed upon a legal
basis before the changes take place which will be consequent
upon Confederation. It has not surprised me, however, that the
measure has been met with a good deal of opposition both in and
out of the Legislature from a certain class of politicians.
These have little sense of justice, and would have none of mercy
towards incumbents whose Offices they covet. And they view with
disapprobation any course which tends to prevent summary
extrusion of present office-holders to make room for themselves
or their adherents.

4. I need not repeat the explanations which are given in the
Attorney General's Report. It will be obvious to Your Lordship
that the provision now made is permanent only in a limited
sense. If the Government which shall be established after Union
with Canada should desire deliberately to modify the Civil
Establishment it will be quite practicable to amend the Act; but
until this is done the measure will protect present
Office-holders from sudden stoppage of their Salaries by refusal
of the annual votes on the Estimates; and on the other hand
guard against jobbing combinations for the increase of
emoluments to popular favorites, and additions to the number of
offices, which are quite as likely. It will probably be some
little while before Responsible Government becomes sufficiently
organized to preclude those contingencies, and unjust effects
from them.

5. The amounts named in the Schedule to the Act, with
exception of a few additions for which I think there is good
reason, have been voted annually for several years. The value
of the Salaries here is less than half that of the same sum in
Canada and they do not in my opinion admit of reduction. The
additions to which I refer are the increase of the Salary of the
Surveyor General, or Assistant to the Commissioner of Lands and
Works, Mr Pearse, from Nineteen hundred Dollars to Two
thousand, Four hundred and Twenty-five Dollars, which had in
fact been promised to him by my predecessor; and of the Attorney
General's Clerk to Seventeen hundred and Fifty Dollars. This
latter Official is a capable and deserving person, and his
functions will be of greater importance to the Attorney General
as Assistant when that Office forms part of a moveable political
administration. A slight increase has also been made to the
Salary of the Magistrate's Clerk at Victoria and to the pay of
the printing branch of the Colonial Secretary's Department. But
none of these matters of detail have been objected to in the
Council or otherwise.

6. The amounts for Heads of Departments, the Colonial
Secretary, Commissioner of Lands and Works and Attorney General
have been retained as in the Crown Salaries Act 1863. I think
it would be especially unwise to reduce them and lessen the
inducement to men of education and character to come forward to
assist in the administration of public affairs at this juncture.

7. It may be proper to observe that this Act does not include
any of the Officers or Departments to be transferred to the
Government of the Dominion on Union with Canada, it having been
arranged specially, as the Attorney General remarks, with
reference to the requirement of the local Government after
Confederation; and I do not believe that any part of the
Establishment provided for can be reduced with advantage.