§ LORD PORTSEA had the following Question on the Paper:—To ask His Majesty's Government: If a report of the visit of the Earl of Plymouth to Nigeria will be published, and if so at what date. If they will state if any grant is given to civil servants towards a passage home, and if same grant is extended to the wife of a civil servant. If travelling allowance and/or bush allowance have been withdrawn, and if these allowances were promised to civil servants. If it is proposed to extend service in Nigeria to two years without a home holiday. If any "cuts" are imposed on civil servants, and if so the amount or percentage of such cuts, and if such cuts are determined by His Majesty's Government or by the Governor himself, and if the Governor is himself subject to such cuts. If they can state if the health of Kano has been satisfactory and the percentage of illness and of invaliding in Nigeria among civil servants. If there is a Widows' and Orphans' Pension Act or scheme and if it is a contributory scheme. What is the total amount in hand and to what purpose is this amount being used. Does the Budget balance, and if so is His Majesty's Government aware 983 that the import duties on British articles necessary for the civil servants are very heavy?
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, the object of this very long Question of mine, though it only touches the fringe of the subject, is to draw attention to certain legitimate grievances which affect the Nigerian Civil Service. In that Service there is at present, and has been for some considerable period, discontent where there should be no discontent. As your Lordships are aware, the Gold Coast and Nigeria itself are not exactly healthy places. No white child can live there, and white women suffer very considerably if they stay there any length of time. The invaliding and the death rates are very high, considering in addition, of course, that the health of all those who are selected is extremely good or they would not be selected.
§ I will state their troubles as shortly as I can. They complain first of all that there have been levies on what they consider their not too large salaries. Their salaries have been cut. There is an absence of allowance for bush traveling. Bush travelling is expensive and the work is hard; it is something like "hard lying" in the Navy. Travelling allowance is cut down. There are heavy duties on all British "necessaries," as they may be called, while what may be called foreign "necessaries" are admitted at a cheaper rate. Ice is unprocurable; no British mineral waters can be bought, and British beer, which is largely drunk in hot climates, costs 24s. a dozen. These are, of course, prohibitive prices to people whose income is remarkably small. Then there is the question of pension. As I understand it, there has been a compulsory levy on all civil servants in Nigeria for a scheme of pensions for widows and orphans. That money, as one of my correspondents put it, has disappeared. He does not mean, of course, that it has been stolen, but he means that it has been taken over by the Government for the benefit, apparently, of their scheme. No doubt the Government scheme is a good scheme, but what I should like to know is his: is it more generous than the scheme for which this money was compulsorily taken from the civil servants of Nigeria? What is more, I understand also that the pensionable service in Nigeria has been raised from seven years to ten years, and those who have done 984 only seven years have no hope of pensions at all.
§ Then I understand that the period of service without home leave has been increased and that the system of passages for married women has been practically done away with. Home leave means gain in efficiency. I do not make that statement without knowledge. I was appointed to a position in Egypt, and in that position they were good enough to allow me leave for two and a half months a year. When I returned from my first leave I found many young fellows who looked more like corpses than human beings. There was among them a distinct loss in efficiency, enthusiasm and ability to work. In a place like Nigeria home leave is necessary. The noble Earl to whom I have addressed my Question has just returned, I understand, from a visit to that country, and although he would not have seen the worst stations, he has seen what the work is amongst those very brave men, and even braver women, who give their lives to the service of their country in that land. It is also said that holiday at home is not assisted. Unless passage home for the women is assisted, then it is more or less a sham, because the incomes of these people do not run to passages home and back.
§ It may be possible legally, and I speak as a very old member of the Bar, to justify alterations in conditions of service after a man has been appointed to that service, but with all deference to the law I do not think that any such proposition is wise or honourable. I think all these interpretations of conditions should be made in the spirit and not merely in the legal sense of those conditions. The point is this: Are we to go back now on a large number of people who have trusted us, I believe, and who have thought that not the letter but the spirit of their engagement would be carried out? I have received a large number of letters from gentlemen who have retired from the Service, and from their wives and others, and I cannot believe that it is intended to back out of any of our engagements, or implied engagements, to Nigerian civil servants. That, however, will be for my noble friend to answer, and I assure him in the strongest possible terms that I am not at all attacking him, or his Chief, or his Department. That is far from being my 985 intention. I do, however, ask his assistance in enquiring into these matters personally, if he can do so. I have had consider able experience in another place in trying to get matters remedied, and I always found that if the Chief of any Department was good enough to undertake himself to look into matters, in very many cases grievances disappeared. I beg to ask my Question.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH)My Lords, I would like first to say that my recent visit to West Africa was made with the object of obtaining personal knowledge of the conditions and of learning at first hand of the problems which arise in connection with the administration of the Colonies, and that it was at no time contemplated that I should submit a report on my tour. The noble Lord who has asked these Questions has suggested that there is a certain amount of discontent amongst the members of the Nigerian Civil Service. I cannot accept that for a single moment. I recognise perfectly well that a certain sense of insecurity has been engendered by the recent economies and retrenchments which have had to be put into effect not only in Nigeria but in practically all the other Colonies in our Empire, and that there is a certain amount of anxiety on a number of points; but to suggest that there is general discontent amongst members of the Civil Service is I venture to say, not only from my short experience out there but for other reasons, without foundation.
§ LORD PORTSEAI have received scores and scores of letters from those who have served, and are serving, in that Dependency.
§ THE EARL OF PLYMOUTHI cannot, naturally, suggest that the noble Lord has not received a number of letters, but I feel perfectly justified in having made the remark which I did. Referring to the specific Questions which he asks me, I should like to say, with regard to the condition of service of European officers in Nigeria, that a free passage is granted to an officer when proceeding on leave and when returning to duty, and if, with the permission of the Governor, the officer is accompanied or followed by his wife" he is paid half a single fare out 986 wards, and if she remains in the Colony six months, or if she or her husband is invalided within that period, half a single fare on returning to this country. No doubt it will interest the noble Lord to know that the Committee of which I was Chairman, having dealt with these matters, such as the length of tour and conditions of service, have recommended that a full fare should be granted under the conditions which I have enumerated to the wife of an officer in the Nigerian Civil Service.
In view of the financial stringency, travelling allowances have been suspended for some time and bush allowances have been reduced. These allowances are payable under local regulations, which are variable at the discretion of the Government, and no question of a breach of faith is involved. The Committee, of which I was Chairman, and which recently considered leave and passage conditions for the Colonial Service generally, in its Report recommended that the normal minimum tour of duty for an officer serving in West Africa should be placed at eighteen months, and suggested that, at any rate for officers serving under ordinarily favourable conditions, twenty-four months could be regarded as a not unreasonable period of service, the Governor being left at the same time with discretion to grant an officer leave after twelve months resident service. These proposals are at present under the consideration of the Colonial Governments. A salary levy varying with the amount of the salary was brought into force in Nigeria from May 1, 1933, and was withdrawn from April 1 last. Both measures were taken with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the Governor's emoluments were made subject to the levy under the Ordinance by which it was imposed.
The health of Kano has been satisfactory, except that a small outbreak of yellow fever occurred there at the end of 1934. The vital statistics relating to European officers serving in Nigeria show that there has been no undue increase in the rate of invaliding, which has shown a very marked and, on the whole, steady decline during the last twenty years. I will send the noble Lord a copy of these statistics as soon as they are received from the printer. Provision is made for the payment of pensions to widows and 987 orphans of officers under a contributory scheme, the contributions to which are paid into general revenue, the Government being responsible for the payment of pensions based upon tables compiled by an actuary. The whole question is now under review. The estimates of revenue and expenditure of Nigeria for the present financial year show a surplus of £37,551 after providing for a withdrawal of the salary levy, already referred to. It will be understood that Dependences such as Nigeria rely heavily on Customs Duties for revenue, but I have no reason to believe that the Duties imposed in Nigeria place an undue burden upon European officers. I think I have in my answer dealt with the specific Questions which the noble Lord raised, but I should like to say in conclusion that the noble Lord can rest assured that every suggestion or proposal coming from a responsible quarter will be considered with the utmost sympathy by the Secretary of State.