To
His Excellency
Enclosure 1.
349
C.O.
40737
JB 23 DEC 12
344
Sir FREDERICK JOHN DEALTHY LUGARD, G.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hongkong.
&0 -
80.
The Humble Petition of the Undersigned,
Members of the Civil Service of Hongkong.
Respectfully Sheweth:-
Your Petitioners are all members of the Civil
Service of Hongkong other than those in receipt of exchange
compensation or of sterling salaries.
2. During the last 20 years, apart from increases
to the salaries of individual officers on their individual
merits, there have been only two general revisions of
salaries: the first was made in 1901 when increases averag-
ing about 15 per cent. were granted, and the second was the
introduction of the Grading Scheme in 1906, which, beyond
making the increments of lower grade salaries annual instead of biennial, was merely a re-adjustment of salaries
on a more logical basis.
3. For some years past, owing to the continuous
increase in the cost of living, your Petitioners have
experienced a growing difficulty to live with any reason- able degree of comfort on their salaries; but have, until now, refrained from applying to the Goverment for relief
in the hope that better conditions might prevail. However,
not only has this hope been unrealised, but the cost of living has gone on increasing, especially during the last few months when it has risen to such an extent as to render
the question of living in some cases positively acute.
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