COPY
Enclosure No. 4.
111
UNION INSURANCE SOCIETY OF CANTON, LTD.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Hong Kong, 10th March, 1930.
Dear Mr. Hallifax,
(1) As promised I have considered the Report
of the Special Committee appointed by the General Committee
of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce to examine the Report
of the Salaries Commission and in order that I may convey
my views to you I have thought it desirable to comment
generally upon the conclusions reached in the Report of the
Salaries Commission. I am prompted to do this in view of
the fact that there is very little I can write about the
Report to the Chamber as it practically condemns the whole
recommendations of the Salaries Commission and therefore
I am confining my remarks more to an appreciation of the
conclusions of the Salaries Commission, with which, despite
the views expressed by the Committee, I am in full accord.
(2) The basis laid down in paragraph 12 for
the payment of Sterling salaries I maintain is a simple
and sensible one. When the sterling value of the Dollar
s.d.
s.d.
falls to 2/- or below 2/- the employees receive the exact
s.d.
If
equivalent in Dollars of their Sterling salaries.
however the sterling value rises above 2/- they receive
s.d.
their salaries at 2/- and this latter method maintains the
minimum amount of Dollars it is possible for them to
receive in any one month. It might be argued that if
employees are to receive the full Dollar equivalent when
s.d. the sterling value of the Dollar falls below 2/- they
should receive the Dollar equivalent also when the sterling
s.d. value rises above 2/-. I am prepared to admit that this
point is open to argument.
In considering this question
it is well to bear in mind that when the Dollar falls
there will eventually be an increase in the cost of
living in this Colony and it is in my opinion only
fair that employees should under normal conditions
receive