Melbourne botanic Garden
5/2/64.
Sir
In reply to your letter No 47181 I have the honor to remark, that as only one officer at an annual Salary is employed under me in this establishment,2 his duties must be necessarily varied according to the exigencies of the service at any particular time. Consequently I deem it recommendable, that any regulations affecting this officer should allot to him such duties either in the Office of this establishment or in the botanical Museum as the Director may consider desirable to be carried out at any special period. Though all other employees of the botanical establishment are under the necessity of keeping the longest working hours for manual labor and for its surveillance (unless wages were proportionately reduced) it will be for your consideration, whether the hours of the officer in question should be in accordance with the general regulations for clerical work or should be more extended.
I would beg to recommend that your regulations should under any circumstance embrace the following: that such Officer shall not assume to himself any authority or duty whatever, which are to be regarded as the sole privilege or duty of the responsible Director.
At this moment however, when regulations for the future maintainance of the public service are to be framed it seems opportune to observe, that if the Government was pleased to transfer or promote the Officer in question to a similar or higher rank in an other Governments Department, I should enter into such arrangements for the future performance of the duties now devolving on him as would not need the repetition of an appointment with annual Salary, nor any other regulations for the performance of the respective work as are already provided by the ordinary standing rules issued for the work & discipline in this establishment.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
your most obedient and humble servant
Ferd. Mueller,
Direct. of the bot. Garden & Botanist to the Government
J. Moore Esq
Undersecretary
&c &c &c
Please cite as “FVM-64-02-05a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on