458
not be filled from that service.
The post of Crown Solicitor
stands on a different footing, and I
}
think that it should as a general rule be
fully
filled from the Cadet service, if qualified
candidates are available.
4.
Having regard to these con-
siderations, you will probably agree with
me that the adoption of the proposal
for the appointment of legal cadets is
unnecessary and, in any case,
I think
that the difficulties involved are so
The
great as to render it impracticable.
suggestion marked (a) in paragraph 9 of
your despatch that preference should be
given to a special class of candidates
/
would be difficult to reconcile with the
conditions under which the competitive
examination is conducted.
It is most
probable that none of the candidates who
would
would normally be eligible for Cadetships
would have the desired qualifications, and
therefore it would be necessary to pass
them over in favour of candidates lower on
the list a course which would certainly
cause considerable discontent and would
also have the disadvantage of entailing
the loss to HongKong of the services of men
higher on the list who it is likely would
have proved to be more efficient officers.
I may add that it is improbable that candi-
dates who were already barristers or law
students or who had taken legal degrees at
the Universities, would be available, and
that therefore the practical result of the
adoption of the suggestion would be that
the appointments would fall to men who had
taken the law papers in the competitive
examination.
In many cases, however, probably
in most the fact that a candidate takes
-
this-