3.
238
5.
Looking to the future I do not share the extreme
pessimism that I sometimes hear expressed.
The Colony's trade
and the Government revenue have shown remarkable resilience in
the past and I prefer to hope that history will repeat itself,
but in view of world conditions the process may be slow and
extreme caution is indicated. The Colony is indeed at a stage
of transition. The rapid fluctuations of exchange which have
played havoc with Budget estimates in past years have for the
moment been brought to an end and if the dollar exchange can
now be kept stable it will be possible to frame estimates of
income and expenditure with less uncertainty than in the past.
At the same time, it is hoped that stability of exchange will
lead to an increase in trade and revenue. But I anticipate
that it would take twelve months at least to reach a state of
equilibrium even if we could be rid of disturbing political
and economic factors which are quite outside our control; and
the transitional period is therefore necessarily one of
protracted and anxious adjustment and in my opinion dictates the drastic step of a temporary levy on salaries.
6.
On the general question of Government salaries I have
formed the impression that while the salaries granted in 1930
as the result of the Salaries Commission were not excessive in
comparison with those paid in some other Colonies and by
mercantile firms in Hong Kong, they were, generally speaking,
generous enough to allow officers of ordinary prudence and
foresight to make savings for the future and to permit of a levy in time of serious financial difficulty particularly so
in the case of sterling salaries when a sudden fall in exchange gives the sterling paid officer an abnormal rise in his dollar
equivalent.
7。
The petitioners lay considerable stress on the
increase in the surplus balances of the Colony during the year
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