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Poking had an object in view, and that object could have been none other than that he should require the Mandarin dialect. But surely it was never intended that Mr. May should be paid out of public funds - funds voted by the Legislative Council and the expenditure of which was approved by the Secretary of State - to devote more than to learning Mandarin only to unlearn it on his return to the Colony, for such will be the inevitable result if he is not assisted by the Government in keeping up the knowledge he has been at pains to acquire. If the Government now is of opinion that a knowledge of Mandarin on the part of an officer of this Government is not worth retaining it appears to me that Mr. May has a legitimate grievance. Only those who have had a practical experience of the task of learning Chinese can realize the amount of work necessary to attain the standard which Mr Hillier reports Mr. May has reached, and it seems to me that it will be a hardship to Mr. May, and a serious waste of public money if his labour is to be rendered nugatory. Mr. May is quite competent to perform his duties, but, as is well known to all who have acquaintance with Chinese, there is no European in Hong Kong who can dispense with the aid of a China expert or a teacher in translation work.
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