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(as laid down in Colonial Regulations 205 and 206)
which the unfortunate experience of the last few
years has shown to be so necessary in Hong Kong
and so apt not to be secured under the existing
system.
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In the Hong Kong General Orders it is laid
down that "Cadets, if qualified, have a prefer-
ential claim to, and may be called upon to occupy
the following appointments ..... Treasurer,
Assessor of Rates". Contrast this with the
Ceylon rule:- "The posts of Colonial Secretary
and Colonial Treasurer will not ordinarily be
filled by promotion within the Civil Service".
It is probably extremely difficult for an
officer in the position of a senior cadet officer
to learn in Hong Kong, in a Department almost
entirely staffed with Chinese or other nations of the East, the way in which the duties of Treasurer should be carried out; and it seems clear from the
report of the Committee of Enquiry that the system
of appointing as Treasurer a Cadet Officer who,
however able, has had no training in the work has
led to considerable slackness in the control
exercised both in the Treasury and over other
Hong Kong Departments which deal with public funds
It is not desirable that the Treasurer and the
Deputy Treasurer (if appointed) should be so un-
acquainted with their duties that they would have
to rely almost entirely on the advice of a Chief
Accountant.
If an experienced officer were appointed as
Treasurer and a more junior but still a trained
officer were appointed as Deputy Treasurer, they
ought soon to be able to introduce reforms which
might