Page:The Indian Civil Service as a profession.djvu/28

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24
The Indian Civil Service

four years of service may be enough for one person, but it is not always adequate for two or more; and the figures may well suggest caution to young officers who contemplate early matrimony. The newly joined assistant will usually find it advantageous to gain some experience of working in a strange country in single harness before experimenting in double harness.

The pecuniary attractions of the Service lie, not in the rates of salary during an officer's early years, which are extremely moderate, but in the certainty of a good income after fifteen or twenty years' service, the assurance of a decent pension after twenty-five years, and the practical certainty of high and lucrative appointments for all officers who are able to hold on and avoid premature retirement.

Although, as a matter of business, it has been necessary to spend some time in explaining the exact nature of the pecuniary inducements offered by the career of an Indian civilian, I should be sorry if I could not