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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
Stanley, where the inmates enjoy comfortable lodging, too liberal a scale of food, regular exercise, and free medical attendance.
We concede that the modern humanitarian treatment of prisoners in Britain is a success, but, having regard to the everyday conditions unfortunately prevailing amongst the poorer classes in Hong Kong, entirely different considerations apply here.
In fact in this Colony we ought to make prison condition harder, and we trust that the Government will give its earnest consideration to this aspect of the problem.
We approve of the increases in Police personnel, and we desire to take this opportunity of congratulating the Inspector General of Police and the Force under him on the admirable order which has been preserved during the recent unfortunate disputes between the Chinese and Japanese Governments.
Much credit is also due to the Chinese in this Colony for preserving that calmness, dignity and self-control which is enjoined by their
sages.
We heartily indorse the commendations by the Government of the excellent work done by Mr. L. H. King in connection with the development of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting. His retirement will be a great loss to the Colony.
We now pass on to a matter which vitally affects the spending capacity of this Colony on Public Works Extraordinary, namely, the abnormally and unreasonably heavy expenditure which this Colony has to bear in connection with the payment of pensions, salaries and allowances to sterling-paid Civil Servants, in consequence of the present low rate of exchange. That rate, so far as can be foreseen, is likely to continue, now that the dollar is divorced from silver.
Paragraph 7 of the Report of the Salaries Commission (published as Sessional Paper No. 7 of 1929 and commonly known as the Gollan Report), shows that the Commissioners, in making their recommenda- tions for the considerable increases in sterling salaries mentioned in that Report took the dollar at the rate of exchange of 2s., as the basis for those recommendations.
In support of the above statement we quote the following extract from the said paragraph 7:—
"The dollar is now at a little under 2s., and there is some probability that it will remain in the region of 2s."
As this Council is aware, our Hong Kong dollar, since its divorce from silver, stands roughly at one shilling and threepence, i.e. $16 to the pound sterling, as against the rate of two shillings to the dollar
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