Enclosure 1.
129
Supreme Court, Hongkong,
12 April 1907.
The Right Honourable Lord Elgin
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
London.
[RECD MAY 07]
My Lord,
As I have the great misfortune to differ with the Hong Kong Government on the recent appointments of Mr. J.H. Kemp Passed Cadet and Deputy Registrar and Appraiser of this Court, to be acting Registrar and also Official Receiver in Bankruptcy when I think I have strong preferential claims I have the honour, though with great reluctance, to appeal to your Lordship on the subject.
2. In putting forward my aspect of the case I may say that I have been in the service of this Colony for upwards of 22 years, that I am 47 years of age, a Barrister-at-law, and a man with a grown-up family dependent upon me.
Mr. J. H. Kemp is a passed Cadet, 32 years of age. He entered the service in November 1899 and was appointed Deputy Registrar and Appraiser on 1st August 1904. Early in 1905 he proceeded to England on vacation leave and then passed the bar final examination, resuming his duties in this Registry in July 1906. I must point out therefore that Mr. Kemp's actual work in this Registry has not been a very extensive one in point of time, nor is he a barrister-at-law or likely to become one for some few years. His sole claim therefore to preferment lies in the fact that he is a Cadet and I am not. On the other hand, I am a barrister-at-law of extensive experience in this Registry, and he is not, and the appointment, over which the difficulty arises, i.e. the Registrarship is a legal appointment of some prominence.
3. In September 1897, having already passed the bar final examination in 1896, I was appointed Acting Deputy Registrar and Accountant of this Court and in August 1902 was appointed to the substantive post with effect from June 1901.
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