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in London is now of opinion that the Clerkships in the Office of the Colonial Secretary at Hongkong, of which Office the paramount duty is the conduct and custody of the correspondence with
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The Secretary of State, should be reserved, as far as possible, for the class of men who have hitherto filled them; that is, in other words, for Portuguese of mixed race, chiefly from the neighbouring Portuguese Colony of Macao, and all, by necessity, imperfectly acquainted with the English language.
3.
It has been pointed out to me here that, a few years ago, the Colonial Department in London held exactly the opposite opinion respecting this subject. In the despatch No. 102 of the 30th August, 1867, it was laid down that it is "very doubtful whether there is any economy in employing Portuguese Clerks, who, although employed at a lower rate of salary, are stated to do their work more slowly from having to deal with documents in a language foreign to them; and that the addition of another English Clerk, experienced
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in