85
real object of the residential allowance
was
system is to fix rates (regardless of
former scales of salary) which would
represent a fair and reasonable addition
to the salaries of officers whilst they
are actually serving in Hong Kong (the
salaries themselves being based on the
West African scales) to compensate them
for the high cost of living in the Colony.
Paragraph 13. I do not feel able to
accept entirely the view of the Anomalies
Committee that the ideal "cost of living"
or "residential" allowances should start
at nil (or some very low figure) and,
rising systematically with salary up to
a maximum, taper off to nothing. For
example, there seems to be little object
in paying any officer a cost of living
allowance of £4 a year as proposed in the
report in certain cases. Again the
proposed scheme seems to me to be open
to serious objection in that after an
officer