292 Government Laboratory. Hongkong | 891 Feb 22, 1907. JEGE(4APR07)
Sir,
I have the honour to request consideration of this memorial relating to the pay of the Government Analyst.
2. After nearly 14 years' service, I receive practically £450 yearly and quarters, with no prospect of increase except by promotion to another colony. When an opportunity for such promotion did arise during last year, the emoluments of the Singapore post offered were cut down by Government to suit an assistant of a few months' standing. The amount offered by them was £500 rising to £600 after 12 years, not £400. In my opinion, a similar reduction is just as likely to take place elsewhere. I venture to point out that Hongkong is as able to afford, and there is every reason for its giving, as fair remuneration for analytical services as any other colony. The Treasury receives £300 as analytical fees from the public. Every leading European firm and many others avail themselves of my services, and while I exert myself to the fullest extent to assist them, I am fixed at a pay which at its best can only balance increased care and responsibility in the discharge of my duties with greater pecuniary anxiety. There are always 20 cases in hand, that I am compelled to forego any attempt to increase my pay by other permitted means, such as by lectures in the Government Evening Continuation School.
3. As compared with the holders of other local professional...
The Right Honourable, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonial Department.