Gov. Bonf
உ
Requesti approval by lélegraph. It proposal that the local equivalent
for
and
Class I should be raised to $3,800
that
for
Classes II & III to 76,000
28/x But
The present position is that unuer
Colonial Regulations the maximum for Class I is
£200, and for Class II £400. By special
arrangement authorised in 1923 when the
maximum for Class II under Colonial Regulations
was £300 per annum, a local limit of $5,000 was fixed. (See 25325/23) This maximum was
considerable higher than the dollar equivalent
of £300. It is now proposed that the
maximum for Class I should be raised to $3,800
and that for Class II to $6,000. The sterling equivalents
n of these sums at present rates of
exchange are approximately 2250 and £400|
acespectively.
The limit for Class Il fixed in 1923 was
considerably higher than the dollar equivalent
of the then sterling limit.
This was also the
case with the limit fixed for Malaya. (See
28284/21). Since 1923, there have been two
changes affecting the position:-
(ay. The change in the sterling limit
Effected at the last revision of Colonial
Regulations and:
(b). The considerable fall in the value of
the Hong Kong dollar. The new limits proposed
by the Governor seem to take into account only
the first of these changes, and possibly do not
even take that fully into account. (£300 - £400
is an increase of 33.1/3rd percent, while
$5,000 $6,000 is an increase
only
20 per cent.)
I am inclined to suggest, therefore,
that the
Governor