COPY
Gentlemen,
Mr Chadwick to Crown Agents.
1179
Rec'd 17 JAN 97
No 7 Catoret Street,
Westminster.
13th January, 1897.
Re Hong Kong Appts.
Regn 694
33
I have made enquiries concerning Inspectors of Nuisances for Hong Kong, from the Secretary of the Sanitary Institute among others. It appears that it will not be possible to obtain the services of a person, possessing the specified qualifications for the salary proposed, inasmuch as such a person could command from £125 to £150 per annum in England. I am informed that a Lady Inspector is paid £150 by the Kensington Vestry. The above statement is based on a number of advertisements in which the salaries offered ranged from £100 to £150. It is not probable, therefore, that a competent man would leave a post in England to take up an appointment abroad with a salary no better than he could obtain at home, and without the prospects of advancement, which home appointments offer. In large parishes the head Sanitary Inspector having several subordinate Inspectors under him is often paid £200 a year or more. Moreover, Sanitary Inspectors frequently become Assistant Surveyors at comparatively high salaries.
The Government of Hong Kong have apparently based their offer on the salaries which obtained in England some years ago. Then Inspectors of Nuisances were not required to possess any qualifications whatsoever. The Local Government Board now insists that all Sanitary Inspectors should possess the Certificate of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, which can
1.
only