CO129-463 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1920 [10-12] — Page 109

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as young as or younger than Mr. Green who possesses higher scientific qualifications than Mr. Green, or by a man whose tropical experience would compensate for the absence that scientific training, sufficiently senior to Mr. Green to justify his being appointed over Mr. Green.

Now we have tried both avenues and as you remark our very latest effort in the former direction has been to try the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Aberdeen with the result that we know very definitely that no man with the necessary scientific training will look at the post on the teras prescribed by the Goverment of hong Long.

As you know it is much more difficult to get just the right man if we attempt the other avenue, however we did succeed in finding just the man of the class who would have

Dawe been an ideal Superintement for Hong Kong in Mr. M. T. out,I am sure to the regret of the Colonial Office, it was impossible for you to offer him terms at which he could look, I know what Mr. Dawe asked and I am satisfied that what he did ask was perfectly reasonable under the circumstances and when regard is had to his quite special and outstanding qualificati I agree entirely with Major Furse that the only course n left is to accept the suggestion made by His Excellency hims and permit him to appoint Mr. Green to the Superintendentship But it will only be fair to assure His Excellency that Mr.

Green will be given a good Assistant.

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Now as to this latter question we are face to face with another difficulty. An excellent man for the Assistant's place

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at Hong Kong, owing to his tropical experience and to the fact that his experience has been of the kind most required is the Mr. E. A. Braybon with regard to whom you wrote to me the other day telling me that he could not be considered for any post unless he can afford a more satisfactory explanation than he has done so far of his failure to render military service. If by any chance he cannot give a satisfactory explanation we must look elsewhere for a man.

In that case I would sugest as a candidate for the Assistant's post Mr. A. G. Bailey, now at Oxford, supposing (a) that the Hong Kong Goverment will agree to wait for him till he comes to the end of his course, and (b) that Mr. Bailey will agree to accept the Hong Kong terms for the Assistant Superintendent's post.

I do not know acout Mr. H. H. Storey out I happen to know all all about Mr. Vyvyan. The latter is a capital man and as Professor Seward brackets them we may be assured that Storey is just as good.

In cases of this kind, however, it is far best to speak quite frankly. It would not do at all to put either of these men over Mr. Green. If you did you would lose Mr. Green's services and Hong Kong would be stranded for a time. On the