The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-09 00:00:00

TREASURY MUTE OF JUNE 91,

My Lords, take into consideration the Act of the
3d Ceo. IV. cap. 113, for the regulating the
amount of allowances which may be granted to civil
officers in the public-service, who have become unfit
from infirmity of body or mind, to execute the
duties of their situations, and also the conditions
under which the grant of such alloWances are
authorized.
The scale of allowances inserted in the Act is the
highest rate which superannuated officers can legally
receive, except in snch extraordinary cases as may be
brought under the special cognizance of Parliament.
My Lords, upon a mature consideration of the
Act, are clearly of opinion that it was not the inten-
!ion of the Legislature that the full allowance
authorized by the scale attached to the Act should
be granted indiscriminately to all entitled to super-
annuations, but that while that allowance was con-
fined to servants of the public who have served
with diligence and fidelity, the amount should be
adapted to the individual merits and particular cir-
cumstances of each case.
The Act imposes on this Board the highly re-
sponsible duty of fixing, subject to the conditions
contained therein, the allowances in all cases, except
those in which the Lords Commissioners of the Ae-
miralty may obtain the sanction to a superannus-
tion allowance from the King in Council.
It appears to my Lords, that in fulfilling the im-
portant duty which Parliament has thus imposed
upon them, it is their duty to consider carefully all
the particulars of health, of age, and of the cir-
cumstances of the parties interested, and whetever
they are holding any other public situation, or re-
ceiving any other public money whatsoever; but
especially, as the object of the Legislature was to
furnish a provision for those who, by their diligent
and faithful services, had deserved well of their
country, it is incumbent on my Lords to have par-
ticular reference to, and to take into attentive con-
sideration the services of each individual. To en-
able, therefore, my Lords to do justice to the public,
and to the superannuated officers, it is necessary
that they should receive a more detailed statement
than heretofore of the merits, value, and extent of
services which each officer recommended for super-
annuation may have performed ; for my Lords are
clearly of opinion that the highest rate of allowance
authorised by the Act ought to be given in those
cases only in which the services performed have been
proved to their satisfaction to have been more than
ordinarily meritorious, and to have engrossed fully
the time and attention of the officer, excepting during
a moderate period allowed for relaxation and health.
In the exercise of the discretion entrusted to
them by Parliament, my Lords will consider them-
selves
warranted in ordinary cases to grant an al-
lowance equal to about 4.sths of the scale authorised
by the Act ; but my Lords will deem it their duty

to award a lower rate of allowance in cases where
it shall appear to them that the services of the parties
have not been such as to entitle them to thatamonnt,
or where the circumstances shall lead my Lords to
consider that a less sum will be proper; and my
Lords will also fix the allowance either at the highest
amount, or at a rate between 4-sths of, and the
. whole of, the amount authorised by the Act, ac-
cording to the merits of each case, wherever they
may appear to entitle the party to more than the
ordinary rate.
To enable my Lords to exercise their discretion
on the principle thus stated, they are pleased to de-
sire that directions may be sent to the heads of all
the departments of Government, acquainting them
with the views and intentions which my Lords have
expressed, and desiring that in every case in which
any civil public officer is recommended for su-
perannuation, the recommendation may be ac-
companied by such a, statement as will ex-
hibit the merit, and value, and extent of the
services of the person recommended, embracing
as long a period of his public services as cat► be
authentically stated; and with a view further
to assist my Lords in determining the amount
of allowance to which the services of each individual
may entitle him, they consider it necessary that
they should be acquainted with every circumstance
which may affect the services of the applicants; and
as the actual amount of attendance which an officer
may have given to his public duties must necessarily
form a material feature in the extent of his claims
on the public to be supported when he becomes in-
firm, my Lords desire that the heads of depart-
meats, when they recommend any individual whom-
soever for superannuation, should be required to state
the number of days on which the individual has
been present in his office during each of the-preced-
ing ten years, stating also the number of days on
which he has been absent each year by reason of
sickness.
Nly Lords are aware that in many public offices a
record is kept of the attendance of the officers and
clerks every day ;and in those offices in which either
no record, or an imperfect record is kept, my Lot ds
desire that a perfect record may be kept in future,
embracing the name of every individual who considers
himself entitled to the benefit of the Superannuation
Act ; which records my Lords require on the ground
that the claim of each person to a pension for life
on account of his services must depend partly on the
proport'on of his time which has been given to the
public service; and that my Lords must be much
guided in determining the amount of superannuation
allowance by a reference to the extent of actual at-
tendance given by each person.
And in departments in which either no record, or

an imperfect record is kept, the heads of such de-
partments are desired to furnish the best information
in their power of the extent of attendance given by

each person recommended for superannuation, whc se
daily attendance may not be on record, stating whe-
ther such attendance had been very constant and

very punctual,' or regular,' or otherwise, with any
explanation they may have to offer, transmitting at
the same time the exact statement of the attend-
ance of those persons, from the period when the
order to keep a perfect record shall come into opera-
tion, which my Lords desire may commence on the
Ist of July, 1831.
My Lords are aware that the value of an officer's
services and the extent of his exertions are not al-

ways in proportion to the number of days on which
he may have attended in his office; but my Lords
are nevertheless persuaded that in general the best
and most useful public servants give the best attend-
ance.

My Lords are not unconscious of the import-
ance and delicacy of the duty which Parliament has
imposed on them of thus inquiring into and esti-
mating the services of a meritorious body of public
servants; and my Lords are resolved to e-4ercise
that task with strict attention to impartiality.
They are therefore pleased to desire that no
minute for fixing any superannuation allowance shall
pass this Board until the case shall have been pre-
viously submitted to the investigation of two of the
Members of this Board, who shall examine into its
merits, and call for such information as they may
think necessary, and report to my Lords the allow-
ance which they may consider just, on the principle
defined in this minute, and if there be any circum-
stances which may distinguish it from ordinary
cases, they are desired to state them in their re-
ports; and my Lords feel confident they shall be .
assisted in their intentions by the heads of the'
different departments, on the fidelity of whose recom-
mendations must putinly dePend the power of this •
Board to administer. fair•and equal justice,
My Lords, 'therefore, desire that all letters and
reports now in the office recommending officers for
superannuation, including those in which provi-
sional allowances have been granted, may be re-
turned to the respective departments, with direc-
tions for again transmitting those cases with as little
delay as posible, according to the regulations laid
down in this minute; and as it is highly desirable
that one principle should operate in determining
the amount of superannuation allowances to be
granted to all civil servants of the public, my Lords
direct that a copy of this minute may be sent to the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, with the
request of this Board to be acquainted whether their