HONGKONG. No. 152.
125
No.
94
HONGKONG..
DESPATCH FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE RESPECTING THE DRAWING OF HALF SALARIES IN STERLING AT 3/~,
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, on the 7th March, 1894.
SIR,
DOWNING STREET,
25th September, 1893.
I have the honour to enclose, for your consideration, an extract from a despatch to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, in which it is suggested that the officers of that Government, who are not domiciled in the Colony, shall be paid when on leave at 3/- to the dollar, and shall in lieu receive a non-pensionable allowance while on active service so as to make up half their salary to the rate of 3/- to the dollar.
I am prepared to sanction the same course under precisely the same limita- tions in the case of Hongkong.
I have the honour to be.
Sir,
Your most obedient,
Governor
SIR W. ROBINSON, K.C.M.G.,
&Cay
&C..
fe.
(Copy.)
humble servant,
RIPON.
Extract from a despatch from the Marquess of Ripon to the Officer Administering the Government of the Straits Settlements. 25th September, 1893.
*
2. It seemed to me that, with little additional expense to the Colonial Govern- ment, the position of those officers who are not domiciled in the Colony, and who therefore suffer most acutely from the fall of exchange, may be improved, by granting an allowance in compensation for loss on exchange in accordance with the Indian precedent, in return for a reduction of the rate at which the leave salary is paid. I have accordingly suggested that the future rate for leave salary shall be, in the case of the officers in question, 3/- to the dollar, and that the pay, while on service, shall, up to half the amount, be also calculated at 3/-; the compensation allowance, ie., the difference between half salary at 3/- and half salary at the market rate of exchange not being pensionable, but the pension on the salary as it now stands being left to be calculated at the existing rate.
3. I am prepared to sanction these proposals if they are adopted by the Legislative Council and accepted by the officers, in whose interests they have been suggested.