CO129-393 - Governor Sir May - 1912 [11] — Page 357

To

His Excellency

Enclosure 1.

349

C.O.

40737

JB 23 DEC 12

344

Sir FREDERICK JOHN DEALTHY LUGARD, G.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.,

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hongkong.

&0 -

80.

The Humble Petition of the Undersigned,

Members of the Civil Service of Hongkong.

Respectfully Sheweth:-

Your Petitioners are all members of the Civil

Service of Hongkong other than those in receipt of exchange

compensation or of sterling salaries.

2. During the last 20 years, apart from increases

to the salaries of individual officers on their individual

merits, there have been only two general revisions of

salaries: the first was made in 1901 when increases averag-

ing about 15 per cent. were granted, and the second was the

introduction of the Grading Scheme in 1906, which, beyond

making the increments of lower grade salaries annual instead of biennial, was merely a re-adjustment of salaries

on a more logical basis.

3. For some years past, owing to the continuous

increase in the cost of living, your Petitioners have

experienced a growing difficulty to live with any reason- able degree of comfort on their salaries; but have, until now, refrained from applying to the Goverment for relief

in the hope that better conditions might prevail. However,

not only has this hope been unrealised, but the cost of living has gone on increasing, especially during the last few months when it has risen to such an extent as to render

the question of living in some cases positively acute.

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