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THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 25, 1941.
MR. FORREST REPLIES
(Continued from Page 2) tion of a system of complete re-' were totally inexperiened, and (to minute by Financial Secretary in cords of applications from the invite anyone who doubts the which is contained the only re-time of their making until the effect on the smooth running of ference to the immigration fund time of issue of the completed do- an office of a completely raw as recommended by. Mr. Middle-cument demanded; that provision staff of attendants and messen- brook which I have been able to was made for supply of photo-gers to try the experiment. In trace; the reference is concise and graphic facilities at spots where the latter category, Mr. A. J. G. uninformative, It reads: "A self- facilities wore necessary because Taylor stands alone as having had balancing fund is out of the ques- of incoming passenger traffic, but previous Government experience;
where owing to the sparsity or ir-lhe did not, as I
have already regularity of such traffic a photo-said, become an executive member graphic studio could not be esta of my staff until 10th December, blished on the basis of isolated and was almost at-once specialis- commercial prospects.
tion."
increase of my Imprest to $40,000 was approved on 17.2.41. (Again in C.S.Ö. 161/40.)
Needless Anxiety.
The comment of the financial side of Government on this mud- dle was typical in its entire ab- sence of helpful constructive cri-
Advantage Given
I
to
to
od to quasi-administrative work in the New Territories, where the difficulties of communication The imprest was at length in-
made it necessary to have in creased to agure commensur- To offset these advantages
charge of the wide area a man of ate with the demands; but not know of one disadvantage only, experience, capable of working before much inconvenience had and that one which I did not think
aply independently subject been caused
to the public and should be regarded seriously from the most general guidance. from much needless anxiety to myself the standpoint of administration, myself; without an officer of Mr. and my staff, as when cheques It amounts to no more than this. Taylor's energy and reliability it drawn by me in favour of the that an advantage is given to one is not too much to say that the General Agent and of the money- firm as against its competitors.
department would have falled changer above-mentiond, who had This objection becomes important
completely so far as the New come to my assistance with only if one regards a public de-
Territories are concerned; the cash when the crowd at my gates partment more as an opportunity. became restive on account of the for private gain, than as a vehicle magnitude of the task allotted to delay, had been dishonoured. for service to the community of to him might have excused failure
even without the artificial difficul the Government.
ties placed in the way of almost every constructive effort on the part of the department when it fundamental grounds sought to organise itself in any for the objections which had been direction. taken to the methods by which I have selected my staff for ap- pointment, or to the selec-
I in fact made tion which
in The remainder of my outdoor accordance with these methods. staff had to be chosen, as Gov- Hopeful that I had made the urgency of the situation sufficient- That there would be difficulty in ernment declined to release
finding adequate and competent me, at the expense of other de- ly clear, turned to the agencies
staff to carry on the department partments, men with experience, once imore That question was
was patent from the outset, and from spontaneous applicants more acule than ever, not only because I had in the meantime ac- that difficulty was not lessened by from those who made application
Government's insistence that all for employment in response cumulated ever more reasons to
A few exceptions distrust their methods but because appointments should be made not advertisements.
later. the I shall refer to only, as is usual throughout
Special ever-increasing problems left me
Government service, on the basis experience in immigration work, less time than ever to give them of probation that might, subject to or even general experience of
ticism..
I had done my best to rid the department of the incubus of this troublesome system writing two minutes the originals of which are! to be found in CSO 2863/4,
mments and went on:
The last point leads me on the question of the staffing of my office; because it is difficult to find any other
Few Exceptions
to
or
to
the surveillance required.
Mr. Forrest described develop-fitness, be converted later to per- Government work, were not to manehcy, but without assuredbe thought of; and all that could It be done was to make the selec- As matters becaine worse, I der prospect of that permanency.
not be necessary to ex- tion of men who appeared to have termined on the course of can- may
the unfortunate result the requisite qualities of intelli- celling all recognitions already plain
then gence, character and education, so granted to agenies, and then in-of such a policy; if it is, viting the agencies still in good the result which I feared was that far as I myself and my assistants which was proved in the event, could, in our own inexperience standing to ask for recognition again on new and stricter terms. namely, that candidates were more of the requirements, estimate the imbued with the idea of making type required. I have already A copy of the new terms of re-
money while the good conditions referred to the help given by cognition I shall submit; the con- ditions as now imposed 'deal with lasted than with that of settling Mr. Middlebrook in selecting some down to a life work as servants of the European candidates; others three principal things - the method of submission of applica of the Government, or, in other tions (so devised as to prevent as words, temptutions to dishonesty, far as possible competition be- always more plentiful in a new tween agencies, with the resultant and imperfectly organised depart- ment with no traditions behind it, temptation to bribe my staff, as
were greater in the case of em- had already been done); restric- tion of the charges to be made for ployees who had little to gain in their services, and supervision of prospect by resisting the templa- their practice by the General Agent.
General Agent
tions.
Quality Of Men
were chosen by myself alone, or by myself in collaboration with a committee formed of the Chinese Members of Council,this as re- gards the Chinese applicants for senior posts.
No Apology
I had from the first keen ap- preciation of the manifold oppor- tunities for dishonesty in work of On the clerical and administra- this kind: In selection of candi- As a pendant I at the tive side here was little to com- dates, proof of educational attain- same time, made with the latter plain about in the quality of the ments is easy, estimation of intel- a contract,
to already referred
men supplied me, if we except ligence relatively so. but the even by the Accountant General in the for the moment the shroffs; I was more essential point of character terms of disapproval which incline disappointed in the hope which 1| is more difficult to gauge. I there- me to the conclusion that he had
was led to entertain of securing fore make no apology for my ac- completely misinterpreted Its the help of Mr. MacDougall, and tion in choosing for the more-res- Scupe. I lay before the Commis- my administrative assistance was ponsible key-posts to be filled such sion a verbatim copy of that agree- therefore reduced to Mr. J. H. B. men and women whom I had my- ment. This new system has ap- Lee, and, as I have already made self known personally for years parently been the cause of more plain, the extent of his assistance beforehand, or persons recom- criticism than any other one de- was reduced by the time during mended to me by such friends of tail in my administration. The which he was removed from the mine. In all, I appointed to' posts criticism began almost immedi- department for other duties. I in the department, to posts where utely after the coming into opera- do not count my deputy-in Macao, experience would have been very tion of the new agency system, and Mr. H. D. Bryan, the British desirable, but where absolute was first voiced in a article in the Consul, in this category; for on trustworthiness was essential, ten Chinese press signed with the name account of his lack of acquain-persons who could in greater for of a person who had just previous- tance with the methods of the less, degree be described as për- ly tried to bribe one of my staff Hong Kong Government, he must sonal friends of my own; I have to secure help in obtaining the rather be reckoned among those refused appointment to about as general agency for himself, There- whom it was my duty to train for many more because they were in after the criticism became anony- their posts. In parenthesis, let my opinion, while entirely mous, but its perennial sources in me romark that Mr. Bryan had liable, unfitted temperamentally or the ranks of those whom I have his own difficultles; until now I educationally for the only posts elsewhere called disappointed have not been able to secure an which they are willing to accept. racketeers, may be legitimately in- up-to-date copy of the Govern-have mentioned one exception to ferred from the fact that Government's General Orders for my own this method of selection, and I ment is called upon to close down use, much less to supply a copy now refer to Mr. Walter Hanming an institution to which no one re- for the guidance of Mr. Bryan, Chen, whom I personally asked to sorts except voluntarily and which and have myself to rely on my make application for the post of will, as a commercial venture, it-memory, and to give him in Jet-A.I.O., as I was in urgent need of self apply the closure if it is, as ters the gist of such orders as an honest and well-educated man alleged, inefficient and incapable found him from time to time to and did not know where to find of real service to the public who be unwittingly transgressing. the person in whom I could place go to it. Ignorance may excuse! My clerical staff, whose work, that degree of reliance: some of the attacks on the system: but my conviction that most of it is motivated by loss of opportuni- ties for racketeering amounts to a moral certainty,
re-
I must explain, was specialised Experience proved the right- and quite apart from immigration ness of my selection in every such control work itself, consisted of case. Not all the staff resisted the Mr. Chan Kwokwing already temptations to dishonesty ito mentioned, ten other clerks, and which I have referred, and I have To summarise the advantages to a variable number of shroffs, had to dispense with the services the public, to my department, and never more than four in the Head of eight officers since the oponing to Government of the General Office, and with an average ex-of the department; while I shall Agency system, it is sufficient to pertence, if we except Mr. Tsui not make the extravagant claim say that changes to the public Wal-pui, specialised to the pass-that those appointed as my per- were reduced, standardised and port section. of three weeks at sonal friends have given in every controlled; that photography was the date of their allocation to my case complete satisfaction as pu- made reliable and guaranteed as department.
›blic officera, and while I must give regards sultability; that over-
credit to the many who were en- crowding and over-work in my
tire strangers to me before their. offices were reduced, though far
appointment, and whom I have |from being abolished, that
There remain two large cate only learned to trust as a result measure of control over the-oper-ories of employees in the de-of my experience of their work, ations of agencies was established, partment, namely the office atten- I must add that never have. I numbers been led, in the midst of almost so that it was at length possible dants and the large.
2!
Outdoor Staff
to prevent the more flagrant mal- whom, for want of a better col-universal suspicion created by the practices, such as corruption of lective term, I call my outdoor racketeering which sprang up on my staff with a view to securing staff, although a number of thein every hand, to suspect any of these priority of treatment, and the sell have been all the time, and so hand-picked. On the con- ing of false evidence; that the me- all of them for part of trary, they have without excep- thod of gubmission of applications the time engaged on Inside|tion shown the greatest possible was concentrated and co-ordinated work. Of the former category it loyalty not only to myself person- which made possible, the introduce may be sufficient to say, that all (Continued; on Ragna