MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.
i>7 upon the actual number of the years you were in the office, and not according to the time you entered the class in which you were placed ?—I
do not consider I had entered a class at all, for there were no classes in existence in the office.
710.
Well, the class in which, in 1857, it was con¬ sidered you should be placed ?—Yes.
711.
There is one Chief Clerk, and three senior elerks, and you are the junior of the senior clerks.
and, therefore, fourth clerk?—Yes.
Act Ol NTiNT-Gt.NKRU.'s
On it*,.
George "Win.
Pigott.
Esq.
John Boyd Rolleston, E^q.,
examined.
712.
Chairman.—How
long have you been in the Accountant-General's Office of the Court of Chancery?
—Nearly six years.
713.
What is your present income?—£120
a-year, up to July last.
I am now going on to £125.
I have a rise of £5 per annum, until my salary reaches £140 a-year, and I conceive, that for my responsible duties that is quite inadequate.
I have to draw drafts and transfers, to attend upon the public, to prepare re¬ ceipts, to see that the parties are properly identified previous to issuing the drafts, and to take their receipts for them.
I have also to keep the ledgers contain¬ ing the accounts that were brought into the office from the Equity Exchequer, and all the railway accounts: and it has always been my business since I went to the office, to make out statements of accounts and re¬ turns for the Treasury.
From the amount of busi¬ ness I have in the office this latter has always been done after the usual office hours.
At different periods of the year, especially during the payment of divi¬ dends, I have to take home business at night, and prepare drafts.
This is done in order to accommo¬ date the public the next dayr, and facilitate the des¬ patch of business generally in the office, and for these .duties
I receive no extra remuneration.
I cannot boast of any long service in the office; but previous to my appointment, I served for a considerable time in the office in the hope of getting an appointment, a.
hope wdiich was not then realized, and I was then obliged to accept an appointment in the Provincial Bank.
714.
Why did you leave the Provincial Bank?
Had you any dispute with them?—No.
Mr.
Starkey offered the appointment to my-father, then chief clerk, who was anxious to have me with himself in the office, and this induced me to accept of it.
I will read the following testimonial from Mr.
Murray, the Manager of the Provincial Bank:—
"Provincial Bank of Ireland,
"Dublin, 25th October, 1858.
"Dear Sir, "In compliance with your request I have much pleasure in stating that during the nine years, from 1844 to 1853, you were in the employment of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, you conducted yourself entirely to my satisfaction.
During the above period you had ample opportunities of becoming acquainted with general business details, and availed your¬ self of them in a manner creditable to yrou.
At the time you left the service of the Bank, you had every prospect of bene¬ fiting yourself by remaining hi it, and, at the time, I parted with you with much regret.
"I am, dear sir, your most obedient servant,
''(Signed), Robert Murray.
"To Mr.
John Boyd Rolleston, 4t Accountant-General's Office, Court of Chancery."
715.
Mr.
Seton.
— After you relinquished that situation in the Provincial Bank, to accept the clerk¬ ship offered by the Accountant-General, you got a
salary of £80 a-year?—Yes;
£S0 a-year less £2 John Boyd deducted for Superannuation Fund.
I had £95 a-year
Eolleston, in the bank.
* -^l* 716.
Since you accepted the situation your prospects in this office have been much improved by the regu¬ lation of last year?—1
should say not.
According to the Treasury-arrangement, I have very little.
I look forward to merely an annual increase of £5 a-year till my salary reaches £140, at which I am likely to re¬ main for many years.
717.
What were your prospects in the office vriien you accepted the £8() a-year ?—I
conceived there would be changes by which I should benefit.
718.
'Was the scale of salaries improved or not by the arrangement, of last year?—It
was.
719.
How-did that deteriorate your prospects?—I
expected they would have been improved more than they are.
720.
Your anticipation as to the extent of the im¬ provement has not been realized; but there has been an improvement.
?—Yes.
721.
How could that make your position worse than when you went to the office, improving the salary?—
It might do very well for a schoolboy, but for a person rather advanced as I am, it is not so good an arrange¬ ment.
722.
Have any additional persons been placed be¬ tween you and the chief clerkship ?—There
are men younger than myself over me in the office.
723.
Were they not in the office when you accepted the appointment ?—They
were.
724.
How has the change of last year in the scale, made your prospects worse, if the gentlemen who are now above you were above you when you accepted the appointment of £80 a-year?—I
conceive that in my low position in the office if they gave, instead of a small annual increase of £5 a-yrear.
a salary of £140 or £15U a-year, it would be far better.
725.
But what prospect had you when you accepted the appointment of £80 a-year, of getting this £150 a-year, which you seem to anticipate?
Had any promisc or pledge been held out to you on the subject?—None
at all; but from the very low salaries that were given in the office, I conceived, there would have been some improvement made.
726.
I can quite understand the improvement in the office may not have been equal to your expecta¬ tions; but you say that your prospects have been diminished by the change made last year?—They
have not been diminished.
727.
Then what you really mean to convey is, that you have had an improvement in your salary, but that the improvement has not been equal to what you ex¬ pected?—Yes,
that is what I mean to convey.
728.
Chairman.—You
imagined there would be changes, and that the changes would have been greater than what occurred ?—Yes.
John Ford, Esq.,
examined.
729.
Chairman.—How
long have you been in the Accountant-General's office?—Twelve
years, last June.
730.
What is the amount of your present income in that office?—£225
a-year, to be increased by £15 a-year till it has reached £300.
731.
Mr.
Seton.—What
was your salary last year when the arrangement was made ?—£120
a-year.
733.
How long had you held the situation which
you then filled ?—I
think about a year; I had been John Ford, four years in the senior class.
-^I-733.
Chairman.—Do
you think you are fairly paid?
—I do; but if other officers get an increase I would expect to get an increase also, considering the nature of my duties.
784.
Mr.
Seton.—Is
it generally the case that the elerks in the office work hevond official hours to get
H
