EARLY.
CONFIDENTIAL.
The Honourable,
Colonial Secretary.
Sir,
Enclosure No.3.
Queen's Building,
Hong Kong.
25th September, 1935.
74
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your
letter of the 19th instant, No.42/136/35.
Your letter was yesterday laid before a Meeting of the
Unofficial members of the Legislative Council, who request me to
reply as follows:-
The Unofficial Members have noted that His Excellency
The Officer Administering the Government is not prepared now to
fix exchange forward for the sterling såaries and they do not carry
that matter further.
Nevertheless, the Unofficial Members are most strongly
of opinion that, in the interests of the taxpayers forward exchange
contracts should, in any event, be fixed now to meet all sterling
commitments, other than sterling salafies for 1936.
They consider that the suggestion now put forward by
them is only in accordance with the best commercial practice.
The Unofficial Members cannot agree with the views
expressed in the last paragraph of your letter under reply.
The Unofficial Members' recommendation is put forward
in the interests of the taxpayers whom they desire to protect from
any possible loss owing to exchange either going below or being
stabilised below 1/8, and they feel, therefore, most strongly that
their advice on this point should be accepted by the Government.
The object of the Unofficial Members as explained in
my previous letter of the 18th instant, is not to gamble on the rise