§ Mr. CLUSEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that a chief engineer who reported that unsuitable apparatus had been supplied to the Ceylon railways has been retired and his office renamed on the pretext that it had been abolished; that the unsuitable apparatus was afterwards thrown on the scrap heap; that the assistant engineer, who had concealed material circumstances, was got rid of on the same pretext as the chief engineer; whether he is aware that the names of two officers, under 50 years of age, have been added to the Colonial Pensions list, while their places have been filled by new recruits who have had no previous experience of Eastern methods; and whether he will take steps to protect civil servants whose duty may require them to report similar irregularities in the future?
§ Mr. AMERYThe ease to which the hon. Member is alluding is no doubt that of an officer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department, who was retired on pension in 1921 in the course of the reorganisation of the Department. This officer has repeatedly made charges of victimisation against the Ceylon Government, but successive Secretaries of State have found no justification for his allegations. I am aware of no ground for suggesting that civil servants whose duty requires them to report on the appparatus under their charge are in need of any protection.