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opinion that the Board of Reviewers in each territory must be guided in their final conclusions by local conditions alone and that their findings will not necessarily be relevant for U.K. military and civilian personnel who receive substantial benefits in kind.
2. In paragraph 11 of my confidential despatch No.215 of 12th September, 1947, forwarding Hong Kong Commissioner's Report, I drew attention to the fact that the Commissjon had designed the new permanent rates of pay together with temporary high cost of living allowances recommended in order to provide reasonable minimum total emoluments for the various grades of the Services and that any downward variation in either quantity in this equation would produco lese total pay for each officer than the Commission considere essential. Although it received evidence that high prices were likely to continue for some considerable period, the Commission preferred to avoid large scale permanent increases in basic salaries of senior officers by recommending that part of total emoluments required at present to maintain reduced standard of living should bo in the form of a temporary cost of living allowance. Political ressous mireasons of prestige demand that senior officere should be able to do a certain limited amount of entertaining. This is at present impossible for heads of major departmente and would continue to be so in particular for such officers as Colonial Secretary, Secretary for Chinese Affairs, Commissioner of Police etc, if high cost of living allowance were tapered off to disappear entirely at £1,700. If no high coat of living allowance were payable, not rovised emoluments after deducting rent of the Director of Public Works or Commissioner of Police would do little more than offset the increase since 1941 in wages of domestic sorvants alone,
3. Senior officers do not expect to be able to maintain pre war standard of living on revised post-war emoluments, and although representations were received in regard to their oxclusion from previous high cost of living schema, pressing this issue on the assumption that when their emoluments were ro-283assed, they would be given an increase which would enable them to maintain standard of living which, although considerably reduced, was a reasonable one in the present circumstances for officers of their status. Whilst considerations set out in paragraph 1 of your telegram apply in the cane of Servicos much as the Home Civil Administration where all members are serving under precisely similar conditions, I submit that they could only apply in the case of the Colonial Service if basic salaries had been adjustod in accordance with incresson in cost of living in each individual Colony, so that bas10 salaries of each grade of the Service throughout the Crown Colonies were exactly equivalent in purchasing power, This is, however, far from being the case and if senior officers are deprived of any cost of living allowance, it means that they will be et a dofinite disadvantage as compared with their colleagues in the African Colonies where the rise in the cost of living has been only a fraction of the rise in Hong Kong. It seema to me that officers who are drawing near the end of their terms of office are entitled to emoluments whilob will enable them to maintain a standard of living comparable with that of their opposi te mumbere elsewhere. But 12 they are not to be eligible
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