My Lord,
I have the honour to inform Your Lordship that I have, on the recommendation of the Surveyor General, sanctioned a pension of Two hundred dollars per annum to Mr. Hacking, late Clerk in the Public Works Department, who has been invalided on account of his health.
Under certificate (accompanying copy signed by the head of his Department, & countersigned by the Colonial Surgeon) that as his health is not likely to be restored sufficiently to enable him to serve again in the same or another office, Lord Derby would be glad to know what probability there was that after say 12 or 18 months at home his health being sufficiently restored to enable him to serve again in the same office, not necessarily in the same capacity.
There is no medical certificate; the Col. Surgeon merely signs Certificate of Conduct along with the Senior Surgeon because the former acts under the latter's instructions.
With officers who are given another spin, it might not be certain that they would retain their posts or be pensioned after 10 years when found to be unsound. I can hardly think that in such cases it would be proper to pension them off.
Government House, Hongkong, 21st March, 1883.
FOR
Right Honourable Earl of Derby,
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies,
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May 28