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East, I may explain that the subordinate post which I mentioned as carrying a larger salary than the office which I now hold,~ 18 years ago was that of the Assistant of the Assistant Secretary, Ceylon. The salary of the Assistant Secretaryship was nominally £1000, and actually, after the increase was granted to the Civil Service of Ceylon, it was equivalent to something more than £1,000 sterling. At the date of my speaking, the current rate of exchange, which had recently been even lower than it then was, stood at 1/114 to the dollar, and at that rate of exchange my salary as Colonial Secretary of Hongkong is equivalent to only £961, or with the compulsory abatement for contribution to the Widows and Orphans fund, to only £923. It is true that gold has