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File 339/1905 ‘Koweit: - Political Agency. Expenditure. Steam Launch’ [‎144v] (293/368)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (180 folios). It was created in 1904-1914. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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2
the Indian Civil Service of suitable standing and attainments. As illustrating
the first of these conditions we may men
tion that there are at this moment
10 * members of the Political Department
employed on special duties, while, as you
are aware, 4) f othcers of the service are
filling new Consular posts in Persia and
on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , which have not yet
been added to the cadre. We have also
to add the post of Resident at Indore,
which must now become permanent, and
we are anxious to provide, as a cadre
appointment, the post of Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. for Bansvvara, Partabgarh, and
Dungarpur. The difficulty of securing the services of suitable members of the
Indian Civil Service of from four to six years’ service for political work is easily
explained by the fact that such officers lose, at present, between Es. 200 and
Rs, 400 a month by entering the Department, and they are naturally averse
from incurring this loss without some very substantial prospective advantage;*
and this, at present, is not afforded by the pay of the senior grades to which a
member of the Indian Civil Service may claim to attain without selection.
Colonel A. H. McMahon, C.S.I., C.I.E.
Major K. D Erskine.
Colonel F. E. Younghusband, C.I E.
Mr. R. Hughes-Buller.
Mr. H. li. C. Hobbs.
Captain R.A.E. Benn, C.I.E.
Captain C. B. Winter.
Captain C. E. Luard.
Captain A D. G. Ramsay.
Lieutenant R. H. Cbenevix-Trench.
Lieutenant T. H. Keyes.
Captain H A. K. Gougb.
Lieutenant D. L. R. Lorimer.
Captain S. G. Knox.
3. The first remedy which suggested itself was the obvious one of levelling
the pay of the Political Department up to the rates of salary attaching to the
appointments in the ordinary line in the different Provinces ; and proposals
were formulated on this basis. On examination we found that the cost of this
scheme was prohibitive, and that it was further open to the objection that it raised
the remuneration of that larger portion of the service which is officered from
the Indian Army, beyond what, upon a review of the existing conditions of the
Department, was considered necessary. It might, indeed, be argued that all
officers doing the same work should receive the same pay, and that if it were
found necessary to improve the prospects ot one branch of the service, then the
remainder also should benefit. This argument cannot, however, in our opinion,
be sustained. There are many posts—indeed, an increasing number—in the
Department for which the training of a civilian is essential, and for which we
must always he in a position to recruit from the Indian Civil Service; hut we
do not consider that this necessity would justify us in raising the salaries
throughout the Department to the level of that which members of the Indian
Civil Service are entitled to expect. Moreover, the suggestion w'as disapproved
of in Lord George Hamilton’s despatch of the 10th Pebruary 1898.
As an alternative it was then suggested that members of the Indian Civil
Service in the grades on Rs. 1,800 and below should be allowed to draw 10 per
cent..over and above the pay of the grade in w hich they were placed. To this
theie are the objections common to any system in which two classes of officers,
graded together, receiv e distinct rates of pay; and though an examination of
the suggestion disclosed the fact that, in the result, members of the Indian
Civil Service would thereby be placed in a position which would in most cases
leave them a salary approximating to what they might expect to draw in the
regular line, we preferred to work out the third alternative which seemed to us
somewhat less open to the objections noticed.
4. The scheme which w e have now decided to recommend for your approval
is, in principle, that which was indicated in the despatch from Lord Elgin’s
Government, No. 97, dated 30th June 1898, namely, to establish a separate
cadre for members of the Indian Civil Service within the Department. This is
not open in the same degree to the objections which exist in the case of the
10 per cent, proposal, while it will enable Government, by reserving a certain
measure of freedom in effecting promotions and in importing members of the
Indian Civil Service of higher standing, to prevent a too rapid rate of advance
ment. In the event of a block of promotion, we would deal with it, in the
civilian cadre, by a scale of minimum salaries based on length of service,

About this item

Content

The main contents of the volume are exchanges of letters about government expenditure on the Kuwait Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , primarily between British officials at the Foreign Office, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and Treasury in London and Government of India officials at the Foreign Department in Calcutta and Simla. They discuss cost estimates and actual expenditure in relation to the approval of Government of India proposals for the expansion of the cadre of the Indian Political Department in order to fill Consular posts in Persia, 1904-1905 and 1909; the establishment of a new Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Kuwait (spelt Koweit), 1904-1907 and the purchase of the steam launch Lewis Pelly , built at the Government Dockyard in Bombay, for the use of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Kuwait, 1906-1907, 1909-1912 and 1914. The volume also contains a sea chart of Kuwait Port, by the Marine Survey of India in 1905.

Extent and format
1 volume (180 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 339 (Koweit Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. expenditure: steam launch) consists of one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 182; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 339/1905 ‘Koweit: - Political Agency. Expenditure. Steam Launch’ [‎144v] (293/368), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/69, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026748530.0x00005e> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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