astonished me.
There are some praise - worthy exceptions that
I shall bring to the notice of His Excellency the Governor separately, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule,
Men under 23 should not be engaged,nor at a lower wages than $40 a month, with reasonable prospects of advancement at a living wage.
Younger men (porly fed as many of them are)
cannot stand the occasional long hours.
There are crowds of applicants for each va
cancy but the best of them
(certainly the two best that
have gone last) get better pay and prospects elsewhere and
go.
At the present moment there are several of the staff I would recommend for dismissal but for the fact that their places would only filled by the same class of incompetents without even the very slight routine knowl➡ edge possessed by their predecessors.
At this time of wrinting there are only three men in the General Office that think in English, myself,
the Senior clerk and the Accountant.
this day.
Appendix J is the list of officers on duty
For weeks the men off duty in the Branches have been worked in the
general office getting up arrears.
Chinese
277