still been unable to obtain Treasury approval for this appointment and were approaching the Treasury again. From paragraph (b) of
Mr. Blackburne's minute it would appear that Mr. Pepper had been recommended for this appointment but that the Governor of Hong Kong had not considered him a suitable candidate. I said that Mr. Rayner proposed to offer Mr.Pepper an
appointment on his staff in Singapore and you said that you would take this point up with
Mr. Blackburne as it might not be desirable to have at Singapore an officer whom the Governor had considered to be unsuitable for employment in the same organisation in Hong Kong.
You may also be interested to see (33) a letter from Mr. Heathcote Smith to Mr. Rayner in paragraph 3 of which Mr. Heathcote Smith says that Mr. Leslie Smith had been offered a job in their Public Relations Office but was unlikely to accept it. You will now see from paragraph (b) of Mr. Blackburne's minute that Mr. Rayner had advised Mr. Smith to accept this appointment and he had also expressed a personal hope to the Government of Hong Kong that they would appoint him with a view to promoting him to the post of P.R.O. when Mr. Harman left. The position regarding the appointment of a new P.R.0. to Hong Kong is that last month a telegram was sent to the Governor suggesting that Mr. Pepper might be considered for this appointment and we are still awaiting a reply from the Governor.
ким
9.12.49.
You may
also wish to see (40) & He minutes on it of 18/11 to 26/11. Surther action is being taken on 54484/45.