288
HONGKONG.
(Confidential.)
SIR,
Secretary of State to Governor.
DOWNING STREET,
24 October, 1892.
I have had under my consideration the suggestions made in paragraph 10 to 13 of your Confidential despatch of 13th July last, for reducing the expenditure on establishments in Hongkong, as vacancies occur and opportunities arise.
2. Of the clerical staff I will only say, pending the receipt of a reply to my predecessor's Confidential despatch of 5th August last, that I concur in your view that Englishmen should not be sent out to fill posts in this branch of the Govern- ment Service.
3. Turning to the higher appointments, I am unable, as at present_advised, to approve the suggestion that the posts of Colonial Secretary and Registrar General should be combined. The Registrar General's Office should not in my opinion be merged in any other, but hold its present distinct position, as being intended for, and only concerned with, the special needs of the Chinese population. If under the present arrangement the time of the Colonial Secretary and of the Registrar General is in neither case fully occupied, it appears to me that the sub- ordinate staff of each department should be reduced, possibly by abolishing the posts of Assistant Colonial Secretary and Assistant Registrar General.
4. The posts of Treasurer and Postmaster General were separated but two years ago, after very careful consideration; and it is therefore premature to con- template anew the amalgamation of those two offices. Here again economy should rather be looked for in the direction of reducing the staff of one or both of the Departments, and of holding the Chief Officers responsible for efficient and constant control of the work of their subordinates.
5. I am prepared, although with some hesitation, to accept the view, expressed in your despatch No. 252 of 3rd August last, that the work of the Harbour De- partment can be efficiently performed by one Officer with the assistance of a Cadet, and with a view to abolishing the office of Assistant Harbour Master, I have noted Captain HASTINGS' name for transfer to employment in another Colony, should any suitable vacancy occur.
6. With reference to your proposal to reduce the cost of the Observatory, I would remind you that the staff of the Observatory was recently increased on the recommendation of, and after exhaustive enquiry by, a local Committee. I should therefore in any case be opposed to making a reduction in the establishment at the present time; moreover valuable work appears to have been done by this Office, the importance of which in the eyes of the Astronomer Royal may be gauged from the enclosed letter*, and I am not prepared to admit that this work is of a kind which is of no special value to the Colony itself.
7. You do not state in what direction you contemplate making a slight reduction in the establishment of the Supreme Court, but I am content to leave this point to your discretion.
8. The promotion of Mr. WISE offers an opportunity for trying the experi- ment of carrying on the work of the Police Court with one Magistrate alone, though I am very far from confident that the experiment will prove successful. You do not state what emoluments you propose to give to Mr. WODEHOUSE, if called upon to perform the work, which has hitherto been divided between two. Magistrates; and I assume that it will probably be found necessary to relieve him of his other duties, those namely of Coroner and Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, so as to allow him to devote his whole energies to the Magistracy. In that case it would seem fair to continue to him personally so long as he holds the Fosts of sole Magistrate, the aggregate salary now drawn by him in his three offices, leaving the question of his successor's salary to be settled hereafter on
* Not printed.