Coll 20/8 'Muscat: Appointment of Financial Adviser: Mr S. E. Hedgcock' [‎127v] (255/696)

4
Demi-official letter from Mr. S. E. Hedgcook,
Muscat, to the Poll. Agent, Muscat, No. S.-
5/8, dated the 5th August 1931.
I give below Par.- II and PirtllTof my in
vestigations into the alleg d fi.uncial irrtgula-
ritics on the part of the Lite Commandant of
the Muscat infantry.
Part II.—New Charges.
1. As mentioned in paragraph 3 of Part I,
Captain Walter's aver-ge monthly cost of living
works out at Rs. 295. It seems unlikely that
this figure will be appreciably exceeded on ac
count of cheques drawn di ect up on his bankers.
Most cf the articles imported w. re paid for on
the V.-P. P. sy,^tem and thise charges were
passed through his accounts here; the lists of
articles imported by the B. f. steam rs show
very few packages for Captain Walker. It may
reasonably be assumed that his average living
expenses did not exceed Rs. 350 per mensem.
The smallness of this figure is in part f xplaim d
by the f ict that the Muscat Treasury met the cost
of the following :—Kerosene and snowflake oil for
household use ; flour for household use , petrol for
private launch ; postage stamps and commission
on money orders ; khaki shorts ; dogs food ;
periodicals (paid for from Sports Fund) etc. No
individual item is very large, but the aggr-gfite
amounts to Rs. 1,791. Puller det tils are given in
Appendix B.
In some cases (e.g., flour, commission on money ‘
orders) proof that these items w re paid from
Government Fuads is furnished by the accounts ;
in other cases by oral evidence.
It is only fair to Captain Walk'r to add that
Captain Stephens was responsible for originat
ing many of the above practices. How far
Captain Walker was justifi d in following the
doubtful precedents set up by his immediate
predecessor is discutseu in paragraphs 6—9 of
Fart I.
2. Pay of Commandant.—An extract from the
Deputy A-ssistant Controller of Military Ac
counts, Peshawar’s No. 1/14/04/PC/26263 of 19th
October 1928 to 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. , Muscat,
reads as under : —
“ It wa* decided und-r Foreign and
Political Department letter No. D-
1274/A/2S, dated 19th May 1928, that
the officer in question (Captain A. R.
Walker) w ill receive pay of rank, viz.,
Rs. 750 /j/ws Rs. 400 staff piy while
employ 'd Commandant, Muscat Lew
Corps. ” J
During his first month of command (May 1928)
Captain Walker c rew hi > pay at the above rate
(namely at R^. 1,150 p r mensem), his pre
decessor drew Rs. 1,160 per mensem. From 1st
June 1928 to 30th November 1928 he drew
Rs. 1.225 p r mensem «nd thereafter Rs. 1.255
per mensem, besides recovering a refund of
Rs. 30 per mensem fr.r the peiiod 1st June 1928
to 30th November 1928.
From the available records it appears that
Captain Wall er drew this additional sum 0 f
Rs. 105 per m ns.m without obtaining Hie
authority of the Muscat Council of State or of
tiie Foreign and Political Department.
3. This increase in pay can partly be ex
plained by the fact that Captain Walker elected,
with effect fi' -m 1st June 1928, to take the
new Indian Army rates of pay which were :—
Pay of Rank.
I. A.
allowance.
Marriage
allowance.
l odging j
allowance.
655
100
100
70
Inconsequence of this decision the interpre
tation to be put upon clause (1) of his contract—
Pay of rank plus Rs. 400 staff pay—becomes
open to doubt. It could, for instance, be in
terpreted to mean pay of rank only (Rs. 055),
exclusive of allowances. It could, on the other
hand, be interpret 'd to mean pay of rank
(Rs. 655) plus all allowances, including (as
Captain Walker attempt 'd to include until his
claim w'as n jected by the Military Accounts
Authorities) lodging allowance, although a free
furnished castle is put at tiie Commandant’s
disposal.
In order to settle what he was entitled to
draw, Captain Walker entered into correspond
ence with the Controller of Military Accounts,
Quetta (copies of this correspon lence are given
in Appendix E).
This officer stated :—•
(а) That if Captain Walker remained on
the old rates of pay he would bo
entitled to Rs. 750 plus Rs. 400, but
. would not be entitled to the I. A.
allowance of Rs. 100 per mensem
(this being presumably regarded a;
included in the Rs. 400).
(б) That under the revised rates, Captain
Walker would be entitled to Rs. 655
pay of rank, Rs. Iu0 1. A. Allowance
and Rs. 100 marriage allowance, but
not lodsring allowance ; he expressed
a doubt whither, in addition to the
revised rates, Cxptain Walker would
be allowed to retain the whole of tho
Rs. 400.
The Indian Army Allowance is granted, I
understand, on account of the climate and
other dis id vantages of living in India. Jh©
Muscat allowance of Rs. 400 is partly made
up of command pay and partly of an allowance for
the rigours of the climate. To draw the I. A. Al
lowance of Rs. 100 per mensem and the full
Rs. 400 per menstm would be to draw, as it
were, two allowances for one climate. Captain
Walker himself seems to have been doubtful
at first whether he could draw the I. A. Al
lowance in addition to the Rs. 400 per mensem
for during his first six he drew Rs. 1,225 made
up of pay of rank (655), marriage allowance (100),
Muscat allowance (400) and lodging allowance
(70)=Rs. 1,225.
But after being informed by the Controller
of Military Accounts that he was not entitled
to draw the lodging alio ranee of Rs. 70 per