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Prison Department,
Hongkong 26th November, 1908.
The Honourable
The Colonial Secretary.
Sir,
We the undersigned of the Prison Department of Hongkong respectfully forward for the consideration of His Excellency the Governor this Petition, and trust that His Excellency will give it his earnest re-consideration and cable it to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
We have previously petitioned and are also aware that a petition from Heads and Sub-Heads of Departments stating our grievances has already been submitted; since these were prepared, however, the purchasing power of our salaries has again diminished, and we urge that it is now vital that some immediate steps should be taken to relieve a situation, which daily becomes more unbearable.
We do not wish to suggest what form the relief should take neither do we consider it necessary to bring forward any figures to prove what everyone in the Colony either in or outside the Government Service is aware of, viz: that the higher the value of the dollar the more we have to pay for the actual necessaries of life: to prove this we beg to call attention to the Market List published weekly, in our local papers, as compared with that of from 6 to 10 years ago, for example, a perusal of the market List "China Mail" 18th September, 1897 with that published 23rd November this year, will show that the price of commodities today show an increase, varying from 50% to 100% the dollar on the former date being 1/10d.
We have, etc.
(Followed by 26 signatures).
Enclosure 7.
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