CO129-453 - Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1919 [1-3] — Page 49

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Hong Kong Widows' and Orphans' Pension Fund ceased to exist on the 31st of December 1908, and was replaced by a Government scheme, it is not correct to speak of "the present position

Sessional Paper of the Fund". The Phe forwarded ended with Lord

Llgin's despatch of 20th December 1907: and Mr. Severn omits to mention that, as reported in Sir F„Lugard's despatch No. 210 of the 15th of August 1908, a large majority of the contributors to the Fund, after having the matter explained to them and after finding that no Insurance Company would offer as good terms as were provided for by the draft

ordinance which became low as Ordinance o.15 of 1908,

either expressed their approval of, or raised no objection to, the proposals of the Government.

3. Fr. Severn goes on to state that the pensions now being paid are in almost every case entirely inadequate for

the reasonable support, under present day conditions, of a widow or children. With regard to this, I would observe that it can hardly be expected that contributions limited to

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per cent of officers salaries will enable pensions to be paid to officers' widows of an amount which will enable them

to live on the same scale as before the death of their husbands,

especially at a time when the cost of living is greatly increased.

further, the Hong Kong Widows' and Orphans' Pension Fund was only started in 1891; and, when such a fund is started, for a consider- able period a large proportion of its members are officers who commenced to contribute comparatively late in life

at any

rate considerably later than would have been the case if the Fund nad been in existence when they joined the service of the Colony. They therefore could not contribute for so long a period as a young officer would who commenced to contribute on joining the Service; and the pensions payable to their widows are naturally much smaller than in the latter case, which case will be the eneral rule ghen the scheme has been longer in operation.

wh

4. In the more modern Colonie Widows and Orphans Pension

Schemes,

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Schemes, such as the West African and Fiji Schemes, special provision has been made to meet to some extent this difficulty. In those Schemes, officers in the

Service when the Scheme was started who elected to

become contributors were allowed if they chose to

pay as a lump sum contribution the amount which they

would or could, have contributed if the Scheme had come into operation 5 years previously, and officers were also allowed to increase their annual contributions by

fifty per cent of the compulsory rates. But of course

it has never been contemplated that the pensions to be Jerived from a Colonial Widows' and Orphans' Pension Fund or Scheme should be the only provision made by an

officer for his family. It is for the officer to

supplement that provision in the manner which will best

meet the individual requirements of his family.

✔

5. In paragraphs 5 to 7 of his Jespatch Kr. Severn, still labouring under the misapprehension that there is a Fund of which a valuation could be made (I

may mention incidentally that even if the Fund still existed no accurate valuation of it could be made owing

to the difficulty of exchange explained in paragraph 5 of Lord Elgin's despatch of 28th December 1907), asks that the making of such a valuation should be authorized,

and