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Although this is in the nature of salary, it is not personal to the officer, and com- pensation should not, therefore, be drawn in respect of it. I consider the best way of dealing with this case will be to increase the allowance to $480 per annum, without exchange compensation.
The Medical Superintendent, Lunatic Asylum, was granted an allowance of $480 as Police Surgeon, and permitted to draw exchange compensation on it. In fixing the rate of allowance it was specially considered that it would carry exchange com- pensation.
For the same reasons as in the last case I consider that the best course is to raise the allowance to $600 per annum, without exchange compensation.
The Sergeant Major, Singapore Volunteer Corps, draws $1,200 from an Open Vote and exchange compensation thereon. This is in the nature of salary, and should, I think, carry exchange compensation. He also draws $600 as Drill In- structor, Singapore Volunteer Rifles, but this, as an allowance, properly carries no exchange compensation.
The Harbour Master, Penang, draws $300 per annum as Passenger Ship and Shipwright Surveyor. This forms part of the salary of the present holder, and he has been allowed to draw it when on leave. In the estimates for next year it will be added to the salary of the appointment.
As regards the Colonial Surgeon, Penang, Dr. Mugliston, who draws exchange compensation on his allowance for his duties under the Petroleum Ordinance, I have addressed you in my despatch, No. 427, of 28th ultimo. Pending your further instructions, I laid it down that salary, and personal allowance would alone carry double compensation, and, assuming that this is correct, any compensation drawn since the 1st January last on allowances other than salary ought to be refunded. In cases where doubt may arise as to whether an allowance can properly be con- sidered as salary or not, I think the proper test is whether the officer in receipt of the allowance would draw any portion of it when on leave; if not, I should say the allowance cannot be regarded as salary, and should not carry compensation.
I have, &c.,
40901
No. 43.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
F. A. SWETTENHAM.
--MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR F. A. SWETTENHAM. (No. 373.) SIR,
Downing Street, December 5, 1901.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 454, of the 23rd October,† submitting the claim of Mr. R. B. Leicester, Assistant Treasurer, Penang, and Mr. J. E. Cooper, Financial Assistant, Police Force, Penang, to receive the local addition of 25 per cent. to their salaries which has been granted to non- clerical officers with salaries of over $1,200 a year, who are not entitled to receive exchange compensation.
2. I observe that the Committee of the Legislative Council, appointed to enquire into the salaries of the Civil Service, place these appointments in Appendix B B to their report, thereby excluding them from the Clerical Service proper, their recom- mendations in regard to which are contained in Appendix C C. It seems to me, moreover, that the fact that these appointments are regarded as prizes for the Clerical Service is hardly, in itself, sufficient to bring them within that service.
3. If, therefore, Messrs. Leicester and Cooper have been promoted to non- clerical posts, I do not think that they can properly be treated as still belonging to the Clerical Service. I am not sure, moreover, how far I should be justified in taking into consideration the circumstances in regard to Mr. Cooper's appointment to which you refer in the last paragraph of your despatch, as it might be argued that the fact that he was not the best qualified man for the appointment should not be allowed to prejudice his claim, since, in spite of that fact, he did receive and still holds the appointment.
4. I am of opinion, therefore, that these officers should receive the 25 per cent.
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increase, to which the name of "local pay" has been given, instead of the increase recommended by the Committee.
5. When these posts become vacant, owing to the promotion or retirement of Messrs. Leicester and Cooper, the salaries should be fixed in sterling.
I have, &c.,
41681
(No. 426.)
No. 44. HONG KONG.
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE.
Downing Street, December 19, 1901,
SIR,
I HAD the honour to inform you in my telegram of the 12th instant,* that I was prepared to agree to officers of the Hong Kong Government Service who are entitled to receive the exchange compensation allowance being granted, from 1st January, 1902, the same concession as has been given to officers of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Services, viz,, the extension of this privilege to the whole of their salaries (including Personal Allowances but not including house or any other allowances).
2. The grant of this concession is, however, dependent upon the assent of the Legislative Council; and I have asked you to warn the Council that additional revenue may be required in this connection.
3. It is my desire that the same principles may, as far as possible, be adopted in regard to the increased allowances to existing officers, and the preparation of a sterling scheme for future appointments, as have been laid down in the case of the Straits Settlements. I understand that you have already been placed by the Governor of the Straits Settlements in possession of certain of the despatches which I have addressed to him from time to time upon this subject; and I have now requested him to forward to you copies of such other despatches as may be of assistance in showing clearly the lines which have been followed in the case of that Colony.
4. When you have considered these papers I shall hope to receive in due course the scheme for placing future appointments on a sterling basis, for which I have already asked in my despatch of the 15th August last.†
5. I have to add that the despatches which have passed between us on this subject need no longer be regarded as confidential. This, of course, does not include any confidential correspondence with the Governor of the Straits Settlements, of which you may have received copies from myself or from Sir F. Swettenham.
41550
SIR,
No. 45.
I have, &c.,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR F. A. SWETTENHAM. (No. 3.)
Downing Street, January 1, 1902.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 462, of the 29th October last, on the subject of the payment of exchange compensation on allowances other than personal.
2. The case of Nurses has been dealt with in the eleventh paragraph of my despatch, No. 341, of 1st November,§ where I have suggested that the ration allowance should be merged in salary. The same arrangement should be made, in the case of the Matron of the Lunatic Asylum.
3. The Entertainment Allowance of the Resident Councillor of Penang should cease to carry exchange compensation as from 1st January, 1901, in accordance with the rule laid down in the second paragraph of the same despatch.§
4. With regard to the allowance drawn by Dr. Mugliston for testing oils, I have
to refer you to my despatch, No. 342, of the 1st November
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ستبسا
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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5. I approve the other recommendations contained in your despatch under acknowledgment, and I concur in your view that in doubtful cases, which have not been specially provided for in this correspondence, the proper criterion is whether the officer in receipt of the allowance would draw any part of it while on leave of absence.
I have, &c.,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
2398
No. 46.
HONG KONG,
GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE to MR. CHAMBERLAIN. (Received January 20, 1902.) [Answered by No. 66.]
(Confidential.)
SIR,
Government House, Hong Kong, December 11, 1901. WITH reference to your confidential despatch of the 15th August last,* and in continuation of my confidential despatch of the 25th October,† I have the honour to inform you that in accordance with your instructions I have caused a scheme of salaries to be drawn up on the lines indicated by you, and I now submit that scheme, accompanied by the following general remarks for your consideration.
2. I observe that the new scheme of salaries must be regarded as applying only to Officers entering the Service after August, 1901. If your decision on this point is final, I must ask for instructions as to whether or not the promotion of an Officer from one of the Eastern Colonies to another will be taken to involve the acceptance of a Sterling salary. All members of the Cadet Class, at least, are made clearly to under- stand, before they leave England, that they are liable at any time to transference from one of the Eastern Colonies to another, and that for such purposes the Civil Services of those Colonies are one. The question, therefore, arises as to whether a member of the Hong Kong Service, for example, who has drawn in this Colony a dollar salary with Exchange Compensation, would begin, on promotion or transfer to the Straits Settle- ments, to draw a Sterling salary.
3. I gather from your correspondence with the Straits Settlements that the Officer Administering that Government is of opinion either that all Officers now in the service should have the option of accepting a Sterling salary or that the acceptance of such a Sterling salary should be a necessary condition of promotion. In your despatch, No. 77, of the 1st March, to the Straits Settlements (paragraph 5) you expressed the opinion that all individual members of the Service should have the option of accepting or declining the new Sterling rates; but in your later despatches to that Government, and in that to which I have now the honour to reply, your instructions are that the scheme of Sterling salaries is to apply only to Officers entering the Service after the date of your despatch (August 15th, 1901). As I understand your instructions, therefore, no Officer now in the Service is to be allowed under any circumstances to exchange his dollar for a Sterling salary. I may mention inci- dentally that the enclosed scheme is such that under its provisions it does not seem probable that any of the older Officers in the Service would be willing to accept the Sterling salary offered to them, while many of the junior officers would find it t their advantage to do so. At the same time I think it would be advisable to allow all Officers to exercise a choice between their present pay and the proposed Sterling salaries.
4. The points I have referred to are matters upon which I should be glad of a little further elucidation. I would only point out, before leaving this part of the subject, that if no one is to receive a Sterling salary except those who enter the Service in 1901 or later, it is hardly worth while to formulate at present any elaborate scheme of the salaries to be attached to the higher Offices. Several years must elapse before a Cadet who enters the Service in 1901 can become qualified for any of the higher posts in the Colony, and I am not clear as to the practical utility of attaching to an official post a Sterling salary which possibly cannot be drawn for fifteen years to come.
5. With the view of complying with your instructions in the despatch under reference. I appointed a small Committee composed of the Acting Treasurer, and the Acting Puisne Judge, to submit a draft scheme. My remarks on the scheme are based not only on the views of the Committee, but also on my own observation of the con-
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ditions prevailing in Hong Kong, which render expedient a reconsideration of official salaries and a reversion to the original system of Sterling payments.
6. The general principles which have guided the Committee in the preparation of the Scheme may be summarised as follows:-The scheme is designed to include all Offices which would in the ordinary course be held by Europeans appointed from home. It includes members of the Police Force, Hospital Nurses, Warders, Sanitary In- spectors and Overseers, but does not include the clerical staff usually recruited from local sources. Many of the salaries of such posts have recently been considered by an unofficial Committee and have in most cases been increased on that Committee's recommendation,
7. The Supervisors, the Superintendent of the Money Order Office, the Super- intendent of the Registration Branch, the Accountant and Chief Clerk in the Post Office, have been given Sterling salaries, as hereafter those positions will, in all pro- bability, be filled by European Officers appointed from home.
8. The Classes enumerated in the scheme are, in the main, similar to those pro- posed for the Straits Settlements, and the system of giving triennial increments has been adhered to as far as possible.
9. In the case of European Officers, whose salaries have only very recently been remodelled, owing to the recommendations of the unofficial Salaries Committee, the salaries as recommended by that Committee have been taken as a basis for the posed Sterling salaries, and no great increase is now proposed.
pro-
10. I need hardly say that Sterling salaries will be paid in this Colony in the local Dollar Currency The rate of exchange should be based on the rate for the preceding financial year, and should be the mean rate for the year preceding the last 1st of August. This will nullify any difficulties that may arise in this connection in the preparation of the annual Estimates.
11. It will be found on comparing present salaries with the proposed new Steri- ing rate that in general it would not be to the advantage of Officers who are at present entitled to a 4s. dollar for leave, and a 3s. 8d. dollar for pension payments to accept the proposed rates, while it would generally be to the advantage of Officers who are at present entitled to a 3s. dollar for similar payments..
H
12. The Sterling sums given in the columns headed" Equivalent Sterling Salary are the equivalent Sterling salaries for an Officer entering the Service on the present dollar rates of salary with the privilege of drawing the dollar at Three Shillings when in Europe on leave, or on pension. siderations of leave and pension pay.
These equivalent salaries thus include con-
13. The Committee has made the following recommendations in points of detail, and they meet with my approval:-
(A.) House allowance, estimated value of free quarters, and all other allow- ances, except personal allowances, should no longer count for leave and pension pay.
(B.) Personal allowances to Officers drawing Sterling salaries should be given in Sterling.
(C) In some cases, as set forth in the detailed scheme, house allowance should be combined with salary. If an Officer occupies a Government building, a fair rent for such quarters should be paid by him. This, of course, applies only to the officially recognised occupants of Government buildings, not to the Officers who may be the guests of such occupants.
(D.) The contribution of Officers on a Sterling salary to the Widows' and
· Orphans' Fund should remain at four per cent., and the accounts for these Officers should be kept in Sterling House and conveyance allowances should no longer contribute a percentage to that Fund. These changes would necessitate an amend- ing Ordinance, but without making the above alterations difficulties would arise in the keeping of accounts and in the calculation of the pensions paid from the fund.
(E) All Officers in the Subordinate Establishment who may join the Govern- ment Service after the 31st December, 1901, and whose salaries are paid in silver, shall, when going on leave or pension to countries having a gold standard, draw their leave and pension pay at the current rate of exchange for the dollar. In other words, the privilege of drawing leave salaries and pensions at fictitious rates should be entirely abolished in respect of Officers who join the Service after the date mentioned.
(F.) Food, light and fuel allowances should be discontinued and merged in salary.
(G.) No pension should exceed in amount the sum of £1,000 Sterling per annum. 14. Turning to the salaries of individual offices, I have to submit the following