CO129-468 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1921 [6-8] — Page 537

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the standing and service of Sir James Lockhart but it is a question whether, if the territory is to be run as cheaply as possible, it is necessary or even desirable to appoint so senior an officer to the post. A possible course, and one which has a good deal to recommend it is to arrange for the post of Commissioner to be filled by a series of officers from the Hongkong service, each holding it for a period of three years. The class of man whom I have in mind is the officer of about seventeen to twenty years service who is waiting for a vacancy to occur in the Special Class (i.e. a man who would, before the recent reclassification

have been a senior officer in Class II.)

An officer in this position would probably

be glad to have the opportunity of undertaking new work and

of spending some time in a more agreeable climate and would

therefore be willing to accept the same salary as he would

receive in Hongkong plus the entertainment and fuel

allowances. The experience which he would gain would

increase his value to the Government of Hongkong and I

think, therefore, that that Government would be willing to

accept the responsibility of his pension in respect of the

period spent in Weihaiwei. By the adoption of this course

the expenditure on the emoluments of the Commissioner might |

be reduced by perhaps £3,000.

(b). If the Commissioner is a man with experience as

a magistrate in Hongkong, he ought to be capable of undertaking the duties now discharged by a Judge of His Majesty's Consular Court at Shanghai. The Governor of St. Helena is also the Chief Justice and there seems no obvious reason why what is done in St. Helena should not be possible in Weihaiwei. This arrangement would effect a saving of

£115 a year.

(c). I suggest also that a Commissioner with this

training should be able to dispense with the "Legal

Assistance" for which £172, 10s. is now provided.

!

(d).