The following to show that the petition should not be granted.
A. Salaries, as a rule, have been as high as in other colonies. See passage in my minute on 21981. Straits.
B. The plea for payment of half salary and Pension in England is still the high rate of 4/2 dacticles of European produce.
C. With the exception of house rent, the Allowances in 1881 were cheaper than they used to be. Evidence taken by the Committee showed that living in Hongkong was cheaper than in Singapore. See page 29. It will be remembered that Sir F. Weld, in pleading the case of the Straits Service, pointed out that a reduction had reduced the pay of the employees at Singapore while it had advanced them at Hongkong; he further stated that people who came from Hongkong to Singapore said living was much cheaper at Hongkong.
D. The present officers have been singularly fortunate in promotion.
Please see the notes which I have made against the names attached to the Petition.
E. Acting appointments are of course a great source of inconvenience in the colonies. Hong Kong has this advantage, that being a small compact colony, officers have no expense in travelling on acting appointments.
If Hong Kong is a distant...