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qualified for the post of European Interpreter are the two Student Interpreters, Mr. S. R. Moore and Mr. A. J. Mackie, referred to in the above quoted Despatch, who now hold posts as Land Bailiffs in the New Territories.
4. Of these Mr. Mackie is stated to have a useful knowledge of the Chinese language, though it is at the same time reported that he is inaccurate and incompetent in the performance of his duties as Land Bailiff. In these circumstances it seems advisable that he should be transferred back to the Interpretation Department in which it was originally intended that he should serve, especially as the Registrar-General, after testing by examination his capabilities as an Interpreter, advises that this Government would be justified in giving him a six months' trial at the Supreme Court.
5. In the Estimates of Expenditure for the current year a post of 5th Grade Interpreter at a salary of $480 rising to $660 per annum has been provided, which has not been filled, and I have now to propose that this post should be abolished and that a Second European Interpretership should be established in its stead with a salary of £180 rising to £225 per annum by triennial increments.