Ferdinand von Mueller

The Director of the botanic Garden feels, after the return of these accounts, that if he remained tacit, he would be admitting, having incurred this expenditure unnecessarily. The Director ventures therefore to explain briefly the circumstances, under which these accounts arose, and of which the hon. the Chief Secretary at a quick glance over these papers cannot possibly have become aware, and leaves it, after the honorable Gentleman has become acquainted with the facts of the case, to his feeling of justice, to deal with these claims finally.

The accounts can be brought under three headings:

1. Forest Inspectors Visit to Sunbury and Experimental Farm by order of Government. The Director of the bot. Garden is under the impression, that Officers absent in the country on duty are allowed by the regulations to claim 15/ for the day, though he himself has never availed himself of the privilege of charging personal travelling expenses during the nearly twenty years of his service, altho' the lines of his travels extended over many thousand miles in Victoria.

2. Coachfare to Dromana and hire of conveyance to Sorrento and back . (The Director himself was engaged for nearly three days in this official inspection of the Sandlands of Sorrento. Also on this occasion he defrayed his Hotel and Road Expenses (nearly £2. -. -) out of his private purse. The hire of a conveyance for two £ may seem high, but the distance to and fro is 40 miles, part of the way over heavy sand, two horses being required for the conveyance. The Director's health at the time was not such as to enable him to make the journey on horseback in one day, allowing of sufficient time also for examining the ground. The whole expenses charged for this journey (£3. -. -) is even now not in excess of an allowance at the rate of one guinea a day, to which (he believes) professional heads of the service are entitled.

3. Cab hire for proceeding from his garden office on Governments Duties in Melbourne . The Director's Office is a mile and more from any railway station; boats and cabs with unoccupied seats are as a rule not near. The desirability of staying away from his Office (during Office hours) the least possible time, renders the utmost economy of time necessary also, while Departmental work calls the Director to town; hence occasionally a cab was used at the expense of 3/ for an hour, and the work was always so arranged, that various places, such as the treasury, the public works office, the Bank, the old Cemetery, the public Library, the office of the Industrial Commission &c. could be reached within the hour. The whole cabhires, incurred by the Director for nearly three months, as shown by these receipts, have amounted to £4.10.6, averaging 7/6 for the week; it was never more than 3/ on any particular day, except on the 21 July, when he had to proceed officially to the Royal Park and incurred 4/6d expenses, inspecting the planting operations at the old Cemetery on the way; and except on Sept 9, when under great pressure of duties in town he had to incur 5/ cabhire. By an oversight in a few instances it was made to appear on the original receipts, as if only one Office was visited, whereas various places had to be gone to. If the Director resided in a private dwelling, he should be expected to provide himself for coming to metropolitan business; but as it is, he simply lives in his office building (where there is not even a single private room ); and he simply proceeds from one place of official engagement to an other; yet he always paid out of his private means the return fare, or walked the long distance back to the garden. Baron Von Mueller is sure, that the hon. Mr Duffy will be aware of the value of the Director's time particularly during Office hours, and that it would not be a good economy, to sacrifice it by walking long distances. Very often he uses his private carriage and private horse, driven by his private servant, to effect and transact official business, altho' he never received allowances for this conveyance or for forage. The Royal Commission for industries and forests held until lately 3 meetings a week or even more; at all these the Director had to attend for professional advice, which rendered his coming to town more frequent during the last 4 or 5 months, than formerly, and the Director feels sure, that at his age and in his position the small privilege of using occasionally a cab will be conceded to him like to other heads of Departments, more particularly as his salary is much smaller than that of any other Officer of the first Class of the service, and as his small income is already ruinously taxed in purchasing books journals and instruments for his researches, providing Office light (no gas laid on) maintaining relations with scientific establishments abroad for the benefits of our colony, and upholding locally the dignity of the service and the Department.

12/12/71