To Francis Reddin   28 January 1895

Copy 1

South Yarra2 28/1/95

F. Reddin Esq

Secretary to the Public Service Board.

 

In compliance with the request of the Public Service Board,3 dear Mr. Reddin, the two officers, Mr. Minchin and Mr. French, present themselves.

Without in any way endeavouring to influence the Commissioners in their independent judgment, I would beg to point out respectfully

1, that the officers are both trained through many years for the special herbarium work and that, as pointed out in former communications, there is ample occupation for them here;

2, that at the Herbarium at Kew (England) eight officers (all with considerable salaries) are regularly employed under the Director;

3, may I also venture to mention that on the present finance-year's Estimates Mr. Minchin and Mr. French are not mentioned as transferable, as they were in the year before;

4, that three years ago already enormous retrenchment was effected in my small Branch of the Public Service;

5, that the Melbourne Herbarium is the only one of vast magnitude in the southern hemisphere, commenced by me in 1839 and comprising nearly a million sheets.

I will gladly wait on the Commissioners if desired.

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller. 4

1
Copy apparently made at Chief Secretary's Office.
2
Melbourne.
3
Letter not found; but see C. Topp to M, 7 March 1895 (in this edition as 95-03-07a.)
4
See also F. Reddin to M, 30 January 1895 and M to C. Topp, 8 March 1895. Both Minchin and French were transferred by the Public Service Board to the Department of Agriculture (see E. Duffy to M, 5 February 1895), on the ground that they had been declared to be in excess in the Government Botanist's office. Minchin returned to the Herbarium in April 1895, but French remained in the Department of Agriculture where he succeeded his father as Government Entomologist.

Please cite as “FVM-95-01-28,” 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 18 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/95-01-28