NOTE OF A MEETING AT 11.30 A.M. ON
16th JULY in H.344 TO DISCUSS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ENDOWMENT
FUND FOR THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY
9
84
Present :
Mr. Sidebotham
in the chair
Sir Arthur Morse
Mr. T.N. Chau
Members of Executive Council
Sir Man Kam Lo
Colonel Ride Vice Chancellor Hong Kong University.
Sir C. Cox.
Mr. W. Adams
Mr. Armitage Smith
Mr. Hall.
Mr. Sidebotham opened the meeting by saying that Mr. Paskin was very
sorry that he could not be present but he was attending a meeting with the
Minister of State at that moment.
This particular meeting had been called at the Governor's request and the members had all seen copies of Hong Kong Savingram No. 756. The need
for an endowment fund was vital but the problem was how to find the money.
The savingram suggested that H.M.G. should make a further contribution of
£250,000. Perhaps Mr. Armitage Smith, who was representing the Finance
Department, could indicate what chance there was of obtaining this money. Sir C. Cox asked whether this was the same proposal as the one put
forward by Dr. Mouat Jones and Mr. Adams as a result of their visit to
Hong Kong in April, 1950, i.e. H.M.G's contribution would be matched pound
for pound by the Colony. This was confirmed.
Mr. Armitage Smith said that he was only in a position to talk about
C.D. & W. funds. C.D. & W. funds were only allocated for capital purposes
and the recurrent element of any expenditure should normally be borne by the
Universities or Governments concerned. C.D & W. funds had never been used
for any purpose approaching that of an endowment fund and they were only
supposed to be used for specific works. He thought that the accounting
problems involved in using C.D & W. funds for an endowment fund would be
considerable. The chances of obtaining funds for this purpose from some
other source might be a little more hopeful, but he did not think that there
would be any hope of getting a further allocation from C.D & W. funds for
this particular purpose.
/Mr. Sidebotham