5

H.—l4

commencing salary according to the age of the appointee should be followed. For instance, if a lad of, say, fifteen or sixteen, was appointed at the commencing salary of £70, a lad of seventeen would commence at £85, and so on. Board of Appeal. There were three sittings of the Board of Appeal for the year ended 31st March, 1923 : 252 appeals were received, of which 78 were promotion appeals, the remainder, 174, being classification appeals. The result of the appeals was as follows : Allowed, 25 ; not allowed, 129 ; did not lie, 56 ; withdrawn, 42. The increase in the number of classification appeals was due to the alteration in the salary schedule for C. VII of the Clerical Division scale. Of the appeals allowed, the majority were allowed with the consent of the Commissioner. Inquiries held under Public Service Act. During the year four inquiries have been held into charges of misconduct made against officers in terms of sections 52 and 54 of the Public Service Act. As the outcome of the inquiries two employees were reinstated, with loss of pay during suspension; one officer was transferred at a reduced salary; one officer was transferred ; and one officer called upon to resign. An ex-officer of the Service who resigned rather than face an inquiry into certain charges made against him subsequently asked that the matter be reopened, and that an inquiry be instituted. The request was acceded to, and as a result the charges originally made were held to be proved. Another ex-officer made certain charges against the Permanent Head of his Department. An inquiry was held under section 14 of the Public Service Act, and the charges were disproved : costs were awarded against the complainant. Evasions of the Public Service Act. No evasions of the Act have come under notice during the year. Departmental Officers on Loan to other Administrations. The following officers were, on the 31st March, 1923, on leave of absence from the New Zealand Public Service to enable them to take up duty with the Administrations named : —

Departmental Officers on Duty Abroad. The following officers have proceeded abroad for the purposes stated : — Miss J. Bicknell, Director Nursing Division, Health Department, Wellington : To visit England to study and make inquiries on behalf of the Department.

Administration. Name. Department from which loaned. Samoa, Cordery, H. $., Leaper, H. B., Halliday, H. L. Ritchie, Dr. T. P., Buchanan, J. W. ' .. McKay, C. G. P., Clark, L. H. V. Willcocks, Miss G. M. .. Customs. Health. Internal Affairs. Public 8 e r v i c e Superannuation. Public Works. Cook Islands High Commissioner's Office Tyndall, A., Sutherland, A. S., Crawford, J., Loiley, W. G., Rogers, J. McCurdy, D. A. Reid, E. A. .. McMahon-Box, J. P. .. Sleight, K. M. Morris, G. N. .. Luckman, A. A. Granger, P., Wright, W. Steere, H. C Herd, T. R. .. Jervis, D. M. .. Sandford, F. T. Toms, E. Walker, Miss G. M. .. Treasury. Agriculture. Customs, Internal Affairs. Justice. Prisons. Agriculture. Audit. Customs. Internal Affairs. Immigration. Treasury. Public Service Commissioner's Office. Fijian Government Secretariat of League of Nations Chapman, J. H. Customs.