)
No....
332.
Ja any further correspondence on this subject, the above number should be quoted,
and
the communication should be addressed to
«The Comptroller and Auditor General"
sir,
EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT DEPARTMENT,
SOMERSET HOUSE,
LONDON, W.C.
442.
31st December, 100.
0.
111
2 JAN CI
I am directed by the Comptroller and Auditor General
to transmit to you, for submission to the Secretary of
State, a copy of a letter received from Mr Nicolle, the
Local Auditor of Hong Kong, forwarding an application from
Mr Hanson, the Audit Clerk, for an increase of pay.
2.
The salary attached to the post of Clerk is, as
stated by Mr Hanson, only $80 a month, with Exchange
Compensation. At this small rate of pay it would be quite
impossible, in ordinary circumstances, to obtain the
services of the class of officer required in Hong Kong,
where the Audit Clerk, in the absence of the Local Auditor,
has to act in his place for long periods, extending some-
times to twelve months.
3. Up to the present time the Comptroller and Auditor
General has been able, at a nominal expense to the Colony
for passages, to obtain the services of young officials
of good education and standing, whose families were in a
position to make them allowances of at least £100 a year.
This has been an advantage both to the Colony and to this
Department, as the Hong Kong Audit Office, especially under
an experienced Officer such as Mr Nicolle, is an excellent
training school for the junior officers of the Colonial
Audit Branch, A list of the Clerks from 1891 to the
present time is appended.
4. Mr Hanson states that, owing to the increased cost
of living in Hong Kong, an allowance from his family of
e Under Secretary of State,
£150,
31
COLONIAL OFFICE.
R. & A. D. Form 1b.
WB & L (z)-22184--2000-10-09