Immediate
Chief Secretary's Office,
Melbourne, 31 August 1871
Sir,
I have the honor by direction of the Chief Secretary to request that you will be good enough to furnish this Department, at as early a date as possible,1 with the undermentioned Returns, for the purpose of being laid before the Legislative Assembly, in compliance with an Order on the motion of Mr. Mason M.P.2
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
W. H. Odgers
The Director Botanic Gardens
&c &c &c
1. The number, name and official position of civil servants and other officers employed by the Government who, in addition to salary, are provided with quarters, or receive an extra allowance for house rent, fuel, light, or other necessities.
2. The estimated annual rateable value of all such quarters, the value of each separate tenement to specifically given.
3. The number, name, and official position of officers and servants employed by the Government who, in addition to fixed salary, are authorized or allowed to receive and retain fees, premiums, or other payments, in the discharge of their official duties or otherwise.3
Underlining has been added under 'at as early a date as possible'.
In a Legislative Assembly debate on Supply on 23 August 1871, Mason stated 'Seventy-seven days ago he (Mr. Mason) moved for a return relative to officers of the civil service provided with quarters in addition to salary, but the order had not yet been fully complied with'. A part return had been provided on 8 August. The text of the order 'Allowance of quarters to Civil Servants', made on 7 June 1871, listed the details given in the manuscript post-script to the memorandum. The Chief Secretary, C. Gavan Duffy, presented a return to the Legislative assembly on 18 October (Victoria Parliamentary debates, session 1871, pp. 481, 782, 969 and 1583). Copies of the returns have not been found.
No response by M has been found.
Please cite as “FVM-71-08-31,” 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