18
I am afraid that I do not know the facts
sufficiently well, or the local circunstances
which must be taken into account, to advise with
any confidence here.
*. The draft will not do, I think, in any case:
A
implicitly the primary reason being that it ignores Part 3
of the Govr's telegram, which is the adjusting
portion as between sterling and dollar salaries.
Nor do I like the idea of outlining a scheme
here for so complicated and difficult a question:--
which depends for an equitable solution upon
facts not probably within our knowledge here,
and certainly not within my knowledge.
3. In the circumstances, I would accord tentative
approval of the Govr's proposals; would ask him
to forward as quickly as possible a despatch
explaining in detail the bases upon which they
had been prepared; and tkakakakaptkokk to work out
illustrative examples, typical for each
that
category, showing the substantial equality of
sacrifice had been attained--on the facts and
hypotheses which underlie the whole thing, and
which the despatch would explain.
The S/S would then be in a position to pass
definite orders.
4. Personally
I agree that the officers in H K
should if at all possible be put on dollar
salaries. Exceptional exchange fluctuations--
which should be rare in the future, if things work
out as we expect them to work out--could then be
dealt with by an "exchange compensation allowance"
system, such as was adopted in India. That, however,
is a very big question which cannot be dealt with
in a hurry.