Page 108 - Gulf Precis(II)_Neat

Part IV—3hap. XXIV. 80
accredited an the Representative o£ tho British Government, and exorcises his functions ’
diroot communication with tho supremo local Government of tho country. At Bushire tho
Resident although vcslod with the chargo oE somo political duties and therefore in os far thos
dutios are concerned ho may be considered to represent tho Government to which ho bolonrr8°
yet ho cannot bo deemed to hold in his own person that full and regular representation which
is the characteristic of tho office of Resident at Bagdad and at tho Foreign Courts of India
His situation approximates rather to that of a Consul with tho superadded authority of
occasionally oxercising somo political dutios connected eithor with our interests and concerns^ in
Persia or those at Muscat and in tho Gulph.
5. Adverting therefore to the subordinate character of the Residency at Bushiro, and to
tho very limited duties attached to it compared with those which aro attached to tho Residencies
at Foreign Courts, we were far from extending to suggest either tho selection of an officor for
that situation of a superior to that of the actual incumbent, or tho grant of allowances so
considerable as those which you propose to assign to tho Resident.
6. The observations contained in our letter of tho 3rd of April had ospccial referouoo to
the continuance of Lieutenant Bruce in the discharge of the duties of Resident at Bushire
becauso wo noither contemplate such an elevation of tho character and functions of that
Residency as would requiro the selection of an officer from tho higher rank of the service, nor
I had any reason to consider Lieutenant Bruce unqualified for duties even of a much superior
stamp to those which under present circumstances appeared to us to belong to the office. On
tho contrary, so long as Lieutenant Bruce has been subject to the direct authority of this
Government, he has manifested not only the qualities of distinguished zeal, integrity and
assiduity, but a considerable degree of ability and address during those periods of* time in
which the duties of the Residency have devolved upon him in the absence or the Resident and
occasionally under circumstances of much difficulty, delicacy and responsibility. Ho possesses
moreover the peculiar advantages of long local experience and of intimate acquaintance with
the language, habits and temper of tho people among whom he has for so many years resided
and by whom we understand he is greatly esteemed and respected.
7. We contemplated as a peculiar advantage of Mr. Bruce’s confirmation in the office, that
it conceded with those maxims of economy which we aro anxious to observe on all occasions
I since the appointment of an officer of the rank of a Civil Servant would require that, according
to the principles suggested in our letter, a 6cale of allowances should bo fixed, far superior to
that which under the operation of the same principles would otherwise bo necessary. You will
have observed indeed that even Lieutenant Bruce’s solicitation extended no further than to an
addition of 1,200 rupees per mensem for establishment and table expenses, making with the
salary of Resident on its original footing, the monthly sum of 1,600 rupees, whereas the
allowances proposed on the plan of appointing a Civil Servant to the Residency of Bushire
amounts to 3,450 rupees.
8. For the reasons already mentioned we further deem it our duty to express some observ­
ations on the comparative statement contained in the 8th paragraph of your despatoh which
exhibits a difference in favour of 1,720 rupees per mensem.
9. We are disposed to think that the establishment both of Bushire and Muscat, the
former on the scale of the allowances granted to Mr. Smith, and the latter on that which was
authorized by the Hon'ble Court of Directors, cannot be considered to be tho charges
superseded by the proposed arrangement. In point of fact neither of those charges has
existed for a long period of time, and by the arrangement last formed by tho authority of this
Government the duties of tho Residency at Muscat were transferred to the Residency at
Bushire without any intention of reverting the former. The true point of comparison therefore
appear to us to be, between the scale of allowances granted to Mr. Smith and that which you
propose to assign to the Civil Servant who may be appointed Resident at Bushire, and it will
be found on this comparison that the latter exceeds the former in the sum of 250 rupees per
mensem—
Rs. Ri.
Mr. Smith’s salary . . . . 1,500
Contingencies, etc. . . . 1,200 2,700
Salary now propoied . . . . 1,600
House rear, diet and table , • 800
Establishment of servants, etc. . 600
Contingencies .... 150 2,950
Difference against the proposed plan 250
10. We may be permitted to refer to the view which we took of this branch of the
subject in order to shew that we could not have contemplated an application of our principles
so extensive as that which you have ascribed to them. Wo observe that the utmost G^ent of
the allowances which it might be judged proposed to grant to the Resident, would still leave
a considerable saving to the public in consequence of the cessation of the allowances enjoyed by
Mr. Smith. This observation would have been totally groundless if wc had contemplated an
arrangement for the Residency oE Bushire such as you have proposed. But as we suppose the
extension of the allowances beyond what Mr. Bruce himself solicited, to be scarcely a
of deliberation that observation was consistent with the principles by which wo a
the allowances of the Resident should be regulated; since according to that view of t e case
the smallest amount of saving would be 900 rupees per mensem.

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