CO129-050 - Sir Bowring and Lieut Governor Caine - 1855 [5-6] — Page 279

and this is decidedly Adoptionable.

My proposal is to attach three interpreters to the office of the Colonial Secretary to occasionally assist in copying when that office is pressed for hand, and this service would necessarily give them a very good insight into official correspondence, which is desirable. They should receive at the commencement a salary of $250 per annum.

The consent of Her Majesty's Superintendent of Trade would doubtless be obtained for their being placed under the supervision of the Chinese Secretary of the Foreign Department, whose instructions with regard to their studies in the Chinese language they should strictly conform to; and as this officer becomes enabled to recommend them on their application and knowledge of Chinese languages, their salaries should then increase.

During the first two years, their salary should be £250; after that, it should increase to £350, and when reported fit and capable to interpret and translate in all three dialects, then they should rise to £500, the limit at which I recommend their highest salary. We should thus progressively form a respectable department.

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