CO129-508-5 Supreme Court of Hong Kong- slackness of registry accounting methods 28-10-1927 - 23-4-1928 — Page 22

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possible, I feel that the Head of the Department

must be held responsible. Mr. Nisbet, throughout

the whole of these lengthy investigations, has taken

up an entirely passive rôle and I have not received from him that assistance and energetic cooperation which I hold to be the duty of any responsible

head of a Depart ent. Ar. Nisbet has, unfortunately,

acquired in the passage of years a mental inertia

which he obviously finds it difficult to overcome, but which it is difficult to make the subject of any

formal accusation.

16. I have little hope of any permanent improvement in the working of the Supreme Court Registry so long as Ir. Nisbet remains in control;

but his faults are rather those of omission than

cormission and his case seems to be eminently one

to be dealt with under section three of the Pensions

Ordinance No.2 of 1862. I, therefore,

I, therefore, seek your authority to propose to the Executive Council that

he should be retired when he reaches the age of 55

on the 22nd June next.

17. The only other officer of the Registry closely concerned with this affair is Mr.C.D. Melbourne, the Deputy Registrar. Ir. Melbourne, who is now over 58 years of age and has over 20 years of service here, is an officer held in high esteem in the Colony. He is a hard worker, but suffers from the defect of an over generous temperament, which has led him into placing too ruch reliance on his subordinates and into taking too much for granted. I have gathered the impression that his position under Ir. Nisbet has not been free from difficulty,

but he was