371
Paragraph 4 of Despatch of 26th November, 1906, from Secretary of State.
4. In paragraph 12 of your despatch you allude to a suggestion made in the Legislative Council by Mr. HEWETT that a Committee should be appointed to consider the question of the salaries paid to Civil Servants in Hongkong. I have already expressed my views on the question of salaries in the despatch of which the substance has been communicated to the Council and I regret that I am unable to reconsider my decision, In any case the fact that it spite of economy in Public Works the estimated revenue for 1907 barely covers the estim- ated expenditure is sufficient reason against any general increase of salaries. In these cir- cumstances I am of opinion that no useful purpose would be served by the adoption of Mr. HEWETT's suggestion.
HONGKONG.
No. 37.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE. HONGKONG, 8th March, 1907.
MY LORD,In accordance with paragraph No. 222 of the Rules and Regula- tions of H. M.'s Colonial Service, I have the honour to transmit copies of two memorials on the subject of the salaries of officers of this Government in relation to the exchange value of the gold or gold equivalent in which they are paid. The first memorial, addressed to me for transmission to Your Lordship is signed by Sir Enclosure 1. F. T. PIGGOTT, Chief Justice, by Sir H. S. BERKELEY, who has since resigned from the Colonial Service, and by Mr. S. T. Duns, Superintendent of the Botanical and Forestry Department. It purports also to present the views of Mr. H. R. PHELIPS, the Local Auditor, and of the late Harbour Master. The second memorial, also Enclosure 2, addressed to me for similar transmission in the event of my being satisfied of the general correctness of the figures it contains, is signed by the remaining heads of departments with the exception of the Colonial Secretary and of the Director of the Observatory, who is about to retire from the Service; it is also signed by the assistant heads in some of the principal offices. In forwarding it Mr. H. H. J. GOMPERTZ, Acting Attorney General, stated that no names of officers in posts below the 2nd class had been appended to it because it was thought undesirable to multiply signatures but that the signatories claimed to speak for all ranks of the Government Service.
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3.
I also forward in duplicate a letter on the same subject addressed to Your Enclosure Lordship by Mr. A. G. WISE, Puisne Judge, who gives his reasons for not signing either of the memorials referred to above.
I further tran-mit a copy of a petition addre-sed to me through the Colonial Enclosure 4. Secretary which, with minor alterations to make it applicable to different depart- ments, has been signed by practically all the European Officers of the Medical, Sanitary and Public Works Departments. Slightly different petitions of which Enclosures copies are annexed have been submitted by the Masters of Queen's College, by the 5. 6. 7 European members of the Harbour and Prison Departments and by the European contingent of the Police Force.
and S.
Two letters, one dated the 24th December and the other the 26th February, Enclosures both forwarded at the request of Sir FRANCIS PIGGOTT form the last enclosures to and 10. this despatch.
2. It will be seen that except in the Post Office and in the Education Depart- ment, whose members have recently received increases in salary, the complaint of the insufficiency of emoluments in the existing circumstance of exchange is universal throughout the European officers of the Hongkong Government.
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3. The first of the memorials referred to above embodies some inaccuracies. Experience has not shown that "the dollar has risen more than 6d. in 18 months nor that the utmost concession a few tradesmen have made is a reduction of 5 per cent. in their prices". The sterling equivalent of the dollar has not been below
Not printed.