8
certificates, merely on the strength of
their Surveyor going out for a period of
six months. They require to be assured
that there will be competent officers in
Hong Kong to carry on the surveys after he
comes home. In this connection see last
paragraph of No.16. As regards the
difficulties of finding men with the
necessary qualifications for such appoint-
ments, see
17606/26.
At present, by an exceptional stroke
of luck, we have a candidate (Mr. Church)
who is suitable for training, and I suggest
that it would be folly not to take this
opportunity of getting him properly trained
before he goes out.
The underlined sentence in this
telegram seems to leave it open to the Secretary of state to las what he thinks best, but before
coming to a final decision you may perhaps
prefer to wait for a reply to our telegram of
the 9th of April (No.17). In particular see
last sentence.
When we interviewed Mr. Church last
week he was very anxious for an early decision
unless he gets this appt.
of some sort, as he must look round for other
employment. We told him that the decision as
to his getting an appointment would be reached
shortly, but that it might take a little longer
to come to a decision as to whether he would
be required to stay here and be trained by the
Board of Trade. I suggest, therefore that I
should write to him semi-officially telling
him that the S. of S. has approved his appointment
*
(see
1