STATE PAPERS. 



319 



description of effective, civil, and 

 politiciil offices, so far as to entitle 

 them to be considered in any ge- 

 neral system intended to be laid 

 down with regard to such offices ; 

 but they leave it to the wisdom of 

 the House to determine whether, 

 as their salaries are entirely di awn 

 from another quarter, and not 

 from public revenue, these offices 

 ought to be included in the pro- 

 visions of any bill which may be 

 framed upon the recommendations 

 contained in this report, or to 

 form the subject of some other 

 legislative nieasui'e. 



Tlie regulations of the bill, -with 

 respect to length of service in 

 each of the four classes, your com- 

 mittee are of opinion might be 

 amended in the fdllmving man- 

 ner: — 



1st Class — not less tlian two 

 years' sei-vice in one or more of 

 the offices of that class : 2d and 

 3d classes' — either five years' ser- 

 vice in one of the offices of that 

 class, or three years in that class, 

 and not less than hve years in 

 some of the offices of the other 

 classes, so as tomake, in that case, 

 at least eight years' service ; but 

 in tlie whole 4th class, at least 

 ten years' service. 



The only further alteration 

 which it has occurred to your 

 committee to recommend in li- 

 mitation of the regulations of the 

 hill, is, that the pensions of each 

 class should, in all cases, be li- 

 'tnited to the smaller sum specilied 

 in the bill, viz. 3,000/. for the 

 first chir-:s ; 2,000/. for the second; 

 1,500/. for the third; and 1,000/. 

 for tlie fourtii ; without any pro- 

 gressive increase depending upon 

 longtli of service ; and tiiat one 

 half of such pension should abate 



upon the grantee being appointed 

 to any civil office or emj)loyment 

 under the Crown of equal or 

 greater amount. 



It has occurred to your com- 

 mittee, that circumstances might 

 possibly arise, though of occasional 

 and rare occurrence, in wliich it 

 might be highly expedient for tlie 

 Crown to possess the power of 

 granting one pension in the first 

 class, without reference to any 

 specific period of service in the 

 person to whom it might be grant- 

 ed ; and although there might be 

 no actual vacancy in the class. 

 They therefore submit to tlielJouse, 

 whether it might not be expedient 

 to grant such a power, subject to 

 any regulations in the mode of 

 exercising it which may be thought 

 necessary, and subject also to a 

 provision that any such grant 

 should be held to be s upernumerary; 

 so that, upon any subsequent va- 

 cancy arising in the first class, it 

 should not be filled up, except in 

 favour of the person holding such 

 extraordinaiy pension; who from 

 that time would be considered 

 as forming one of the limited list 

 of six. 



Although it may be objected to 

 the limited number proposed by 

 your coniniittee for each class, 

 that circumstances may arise in 

 which, from the whole number of 

 pensions in any of the classes 

 liaving been previously granted, 

 the ciown might for a time be de- 

 bari ed from remunei-ating a per- 

 son, who, by long and meritorious 

 services, might be entitled to sucli 

 a reward ; such an inconvenience, 

 tliey apprehend, could only exist 

 for a short time ; and on tlie other 

 hand, yourconniiittec are of opini- 

 on that, without son)e such limita- 

 tion. 



