CP. 431/4
PC Duff Esq
WIAD
FCO
LONDON SW1
Dear Palick
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE PERSONAL
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
TORTOLA,
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS.
18 August 1977
39
SIRY NO. 51
1 2 SEP 1977
DESK OFFICW
DEX
NO
ideo
PLGISTRY Action Taken
LAST
Rff
MANAGING THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
y
#rf
1. Thank you for your letter of 13 June and for sending me
a copy of John Stewart's paper on the above subject.
2.
!
I have the following comments on the paper:-
a)
b)
c)
I
39A
I entirely agree with the observation in para 3(b) that dependent territories' desks in the FCO should be manned by officers with some experience in the dependencies.
In my experience it is a great comfort to a Governor to know that the chap at the other end speaks the same language and appreciates how a depen- dent territory government works - or, more frequently, does not work.
In para 4, I would venture to question the assertion that it is only salary levels which would prevent future Governors being drawn from Hong Kong. I do not know Hong Kong but I would have doubted whether administrative officers there would necessarily have any of the experience which I at least have found invaluable, viz, experience of the African mind and how it works (very relevant to West Indian governorships), and experience of the Ministerial system.
Like Sir Bruce Greatbatch in para 7 of his letter to you of 2 August, I think the last two sentences of para 8 of John Stewart's paper under-state the problems which come before a Governor. While, as you know, my own guiding principle is not to interfere in subjects which are the responsibility of Ministers, this does not mean that they do not arrive on my desk or are brought to me by the constantflow of callers at the Governɔr's office. There is also the point that as long as a Governor presides in Executive Council the whole range of a territory's problems come before him; and this is perhaps the greatest opportunity of all for a Governor to bring his experience to bear.
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE PERSONAL
..../(a)