PAY AND TTIE COST OF LIVING IN INDIA.
[TO TRE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.")
E-itt,—You have recently published two letters setting forth the advantages of the I.C.S., and pointing out how large Indian salaries are when the rupee is worth 2s. 8d. Perhaps you will allow me to point out that the advantages are not quite so great as may appear at first sight. The pay of some of the Indian Services has actually been reduced during the last year owing to the abolition of exchange allowance. This was always, rightly or wrongly, looked on as pay. Of course technically it was not pay, but in reality it was. For example, in 1906 the rates of pay in the Ecclesiastical Department were revised, and chaplains appointed after July, in that year were not granted exchange allowance but were put on consolidated rates of pay, which, in the case of senior chaplains, were Rs. 50 a month in excess of previous rates. The result now is that men. appointed on or before July 29th, 1905, are drawing Rs. 50 a month less than their juniors who were appointed after that date.
The fact of the matter is that the members of some of the Indian Services are actually drawing less pay than ever before in spite of the greatly increased' cost of living. If we take the rupee at 2s. 8d., what about the cost of living in India ? The various foodstuffs vary from double to eight times the amount of what they cost when salaries and allowances were fixed years ago. The ordinary fowl, which used to cost about 4d., now costs up to 4s. flutter costs 4s. a pound. An ordinary bungalow in an up-country station cannot often be rented. for less than £120 to £200 a year. In one of the larger and more expensive cities it may be anything from OM to £1,000 a year. Officials require to keep some kind of motor or trap. The cost of keeping a horse now comes to about £100 a year. Until the last month or so petrol has been 5s. 6d. a gallon. The expense of travelling both by land and sea has increased. In short, everything has gone up with the exception of pay. The members of the I.C.S. are to be congratulated on having been in the fortunate position they have always occupied, and on having been able owing to this position to get their pay adjusted in accordance with altered conditions.
The advantages and disadvantages of all the Indian Services are well known to every Head-Master and to every under- graduate at home, and there is, or should be, no need of
boosting." It is perfectly true that people in India are able to send home double the amount of money when the rupee is worth 2s. 8d.—if they are able to save anything—but as the sovereign is not worth ten shillings I do not see how that helps very materially. The plain fact of the matter is that most people in India find it very difficult to make ends meet, and that they were much better off in every way when prices were low and the rupee worth only is. 4(1.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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