rIIB ttLLESMEUE tiuAKDIAN. SATURDAY, AUGUST 29^ j A WORTHY PtiNSIONUJR,

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 939, 29 August 1891, Page 2

The Ellesmere Guardian. SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 1891. A WORTHY PENSIONER.

Mr Hamkrton may consider himself a very fortanate roan. He has been for yearg m the enjoyment of a handsome salary, pail to him m return for his services as Public Trustee of the colony. He has carefully drawn that salary, and as carefully mismanaged the affairs of the office over which he had control. The exhaustive examination recently made into those affairs proved incon estabiy the utter incompetence of Mr Hambrtov. The whole colony rung with revelations of wilful carelessness and wanton maladministration of the Public Trust Office. Countless cases wherein injustice has been inflicted <n clients of the Office were adduced, and no excuse tendered for them. Had soch a state of affairs been discovered m any merchant's or lawyer's office, instant dismissal would Lave awaited the responsible party; But the: Government —a Government pledged to economyis more lenient, By length of service, Hajierton was entitled to a pension of £350 a year. . This, though tho advisability ot the principle may be questioned, is reasonable enough. At the time lie rntered the Service, Mr Hamerton was l old that his salary would be so much, and that a pension would be given him, according to his length of service. Jt was part of the contract, and had Mr Hamertok done his work at all satis tactorily, he would hare been fully entit led to it. But one part of the cop tract was that the work should be satisfactorily done, and m this he has lamentably failed. ,By what chain of reasoning it can be arpued that a man who has not earned bis salary, should be entitled to compensation for losing it, it is hard to understand. The proposal of the Com mittee was reasonable enough. Up to the time Mr Hamerton became Public Trustee, he did his work well ; grant him the pension he would have been entitled to then. It amounted io £150 » year, and considering everything, would have been a fair income on which to pass the remainder of his days. But the House— the economical House— r-has decided differently. Mr Hamerton is to be punished ; he is to lose £100 a year of his pension and to draw £250 instead of the fall amount. It is to be hoped that the extra £100 a yenr saved will be devoted to recompensing m gomo degree thos.e unfortunate people whoj

t live suffered through tbe bad management bt thoPublic Trustee. If the full pension w«re devoted to that purpose, it woul«{ go but a very little way, Still uch an expenditure of tlie public funds .vould le more generally a. predated han the waiting of them m rewaniinn incornfietency.