68
C O
OP Y.
254.
Enclosure 1.
21075
sir,
Public Works of $199 || JUL 10,
Hongkong, 30th. September, 1908.
*
one
I beg to forward a petition from the Over- -geers on the permanent staff of this Department and ef of the
in whole Land Bailiffs asking that the Government should defray,
solved
or in part, the cost of the passages of themselves, their mies and families with a view to enabling them to take leave periodically at reasonable intervals.
They suggest that their periods of service
in the Colony should be 5 years at a time, at the end of which they should be entitled to 9 months' leave, all of which should be on half-pay. Under the existing regulations, they are entitleɗ
to 3 months' full-pay leave and 10 months' half-pay, a few of the older hands being entitled to 4 months' full-pay leave
instead of 3.
I consider that single men, even among the
II Class Overseers, should have no difficulty in saving enough money to pay for their passages. With the married men, the case is different and I can quite understand that they experience great difficulty in saving enough money, the necessary outlay in their case being considerably greater. It would however be somewhat impracticable to discriminate between the two classes in a matter of this kind.
Speaking generally, I think it would be beneficial to the men to make some such arrangement as that which forms the subject of the petition as men undoubtedly re- -quire an occasional holiday to England, but it is unnecessary for me to go into details in a matter which cannot be con- -fined to this Department alone.
The Honourable
The Colonial Secretary.
I