62
6
3
Comparisons have also been made with other technica 1 posts, e.g. Assessors, Karine Surveyors, and Assistants, Aerodrome.
As to these it is difficult to make comparisons with other
territories because comparatively few such territories have
organized services in those branches. It will, however, be
recalled that the Marine Surveyors recently submitted a petition,
which was found to be in the main well founded, praying for the
improvement of their salaries to some thing approximating to the
standard of Public Works engineers. Comparison is also made of
the position of Executive Engineers with that of such officers as
the Superintendent of Crown Lands, Assessor and Government Marine
Surveyor. There is, however, the important difference in the
position of these officers that they are independent or semi-
independent heads of departments and have no prospects of further
promotion, to which an Executive Engineer can certainly aspire.
I may add that neither the Assessor nor the Government Marine'
Surveyor regards the salary proposed for his post as adequate in
relation to the salary now proposed for Executive Engineers.
7.
Representations are also made on the matter of promotion
prospects. It is contended in the first place that serving
officers are entitled to the preservation of existing prospects.
This principle was definitely rejected in Mr. Ormsby-Gore's
despatch No. 221 of 12th June, 1937, as quoted in paragraph 23 of
the Anomalies Committee's Report. If that decision were not
sufficient, it would be pertime nt to point out that the majority
of the petitioners joined the Service before 1930 and cannot
claim to have been attracted to it by the salaries prescribed
for senior posts by the Gollan Commission.
$7
8.
More generally, I fear that attention is concentrated
too much on the Hong Kong Service itself. The theory of a
unified Colonial Service is that higher posts are open to all
officers in the unified services, not merely those in the
particular Colony concerned.
In actual fact such particulars as