17
readjust its fiscal arrangements to meet the
new conditions, a period should now be set to
the sacrifice which has been demanded from
officers on sterling salaries. He is of the
opinion that the present system should
continue until the end of the current financial
year and that as from the 1st January, 1932, all
sterling salaries should be converted, in toto,
at the full current exchange rate.
In confidential despatch reference 14
Ask that petitioners
confirm the above telegram.
may be informed of the above decision and told
that in reaching it the Secretary of State has
taken their representations into account along
with other considerations.
(sd.) J.M.Martin.
10/7/31.
To my mind the petitioners (practically the whole of the European Service in Hong Kong
I don't know whether there are any exceptions)
make out a strong case against the theory
that this drastic decision can be justified on
the ground that the economic position of
Hong Kong demands it. It has never been
seriously claimed that the limits of taxation in
Hong Kong had even been approached, and the
information in this petition confirms the view
that revenue could easily and without any sort
of hardship have been made available for the
payment of the public servants at the salaries on which they were engaged.
The