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2
As arranged Mr. Sloss, Mr. Morse and myself met yesterday for a preliminary discussion on the steps necessary to meet the current financial obligations of the University.
2.
Mr. Morse and Mr. Sloss agreed that in round figures the pre-war income of the University was £60,000 composed as follows: -
3.
a! From grant by Hong Kong Government £23,000
From fees
From sterling investments From local investments
£20,000
£13,000
£5,000
Of this income the only part which has been received during the war years has been the £13,000 from sterling investments.
4.
The European employees of the University number twenty-six, of these some have been in internment and other have been employed in the services or on other war work. The question now arises as to the policy to be decided in relation to the payment of salaries since the occupation of Hong Kong // Mr. Morse urged that salaries should be paid in full to those officers who were interned for the period of their internment, i.e. from 1st January, 1942 to 31st August, 1945,
5. In the case of the Bank employees, he had arranged that they should be paid salary in full for the first year of internment and then receive half salary, but that those who were married should receive allowances for wives and families. In the case of University staff, all but one of them was married and therefore there was not a great deal in this financially, and he thought it would be preferable to follow the policy adopted by the Government and to pay them salaries in full for this period but not allowances. If this were done, Mr. Morse and Mr. Sloss calculated that the total amount for salaries, less the sums which had been received by those members of the staff who had been employed elsewhere and less those payments which had been made to the wives of interned officers, would amount to £23,000. That is to say that if the Treasury would agree to the payment from Hong Kong Government funds of the annual grant that had been made to the University in the immediate pre-war years (namely £23,000) this would just about meet the obligations of the University towards its staff. In addition to payments to European staff, certain payments will be necessary to Chinese staff and clerical staff. The income of £13,000/will be needed for these purposes and for sundry demands on University funds.
6. With regard to the future, a telegram has been received to the effect that it will not be possible to restart even the Medical Department before October, 1946. In Mr. Sloss's view that date should read October, 1947. The question then arises as to what is to be done with the staff meanwhile. Mr. Sloss states that only five or six of the present staff are definitely to be retained with a possible addition of two others. The remainder, he says, are either due or nearly due for retirement and should not, in any case, return in two years time.
Most487
these officers are due for a period of leave; those who have already reached the age of retirement present no difficulty;
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