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It is unnecessary to lay stress on the important part that China New Year plays in the life of the Chinese people; and the great value that would be attached to the pos- session of a lump sum at this time. Most of these men will never rise out of the class into which they are born, and their domestic expenses exhaust all their earnings and make it practically impossible for them to collect any appreciable sum for any special occasion. A bonus such as we propose would, we believe, go a long way to make them contented, and we therefore recommend that every employee drawing not more than $20 a month be given one month's pay at each China New Year, provided he has previously completed one year's service, and half a month's pay after 7 months service. We estimate the cost of this concession would be about $40,000 a year.
27. We now proceed to deal with the various Departments of the Government on the principles which we have laid down in the preceding paragraphs of this Report. Where 15% only on sterling salaries or 20% on dollar salaries, or sums based on these percentages respectively necessary to express the scales in round figures, have been added to the existing scales of salary, we have given no special reasons for our recommenda- tions; but where we consider such amended scales inadequate we have given our reasons in detail.
1. GOVERNOR.
28. The present emoluments of His Excellency the Governor were fixed in 1904. They consist of a sterling salary of £4,800 per annum and an Entertainment Allowance of £1,200 per annum. Salary and Allowance are paid in accordance with the rules applic- able to Government servants generally so that H. E. the Governor, while in Hong Kong, draws salary at the rate of $5,376 per mensem and entertainment allowance of $1,344 per mensem when the dollar is at 2/-, a total of $6,720.
29. The sterling salary of the Governor was fixed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies with special reference to the salaries payable in the case of certain other Governorships and we understand that H. E. does not desire that any alteration should be made in the amount. The High Cost of Living Allowance suggested by us in paragraph 12, supra, would of course be payable on this salary, but as the maximum allowance sug- gested is 15 per cent instead of 34.4 per cent, as at present, the number of dollars drawn locally by the Governor would be diminished unless the amount of the Entertainment Al- lowance is increased correspondingly
30. The Entertainment Allowance is payable only while, the Governor is in the Colony and is available for the Officer Administering the Government when II.E. is absent on leave. The present allowance is, however, wholly inadequate to cover the cost of entertainment, and in the case of the Officer Administering the Government a period of acting is a heavy drain on his private resources. We recommend that the allowance be in- creased to £2,200 per annum on which sum also the High Cost of Living Allowance will be payable. The result will be that the Officer Administering the Government will not have to meet any part of the cost of entertainment out of his own pocket, while II. E. will not be materially affected by the reduction of the high cost of living allowance from 34.4% to 15% on his substantive salary
31. The Governor's emoluments locally will then become :--
Salary £4,800
plus 15% H.C.L. Allowance
Entertainment Allowance £2.200
plus 15% II.C.L. Allowance
a total of $80,500 as compared with the present ligure of $80,610.
$48,000
7,200
$55,200
$22,000
3,300
25,300
32. We consider that the salaries at present paid to the Private Secretary and the Aide-de-Camp are inadequate and we note that the Secretary of State for the Colonies agreed (Despatch No. 130. of the 17th April 1928) that some increase is desirable. We recommend that the salary of each post be £500 per annum.
33. The salary of the Custodian at Government House is the same as that of several groups of Subordinate European officers of the lower or 2nd Class. It is desirable that the officer performing the duties of Custodian should remain in his post over a con- siderable period of years and should not be tempted to look for promotion to other posts, We consider therefore that the scale of salary should be a long one covering roughly the same range as that of subordinate officers of the 2nd and 1st Classes. We recommend a scale of £260 rising by 5 annual increments of £10, 2 of £20 (after the sixth year in accordance with the principle laid down in paragraph 19) and 7 further increments of £10 to £420 with an efficiency bar at £350.
34. Chinese Staff of Government House. Provision is made in the Estimates for certain household servants only. We recommend that their salaries shall in future be as follows:--
1 Chauffeur:—$960;
1 Amah --$324;
1 House boy:-$252 to $300 by $12 after 3, 6, 9 and 12 years;
1 Laundryman :-$360;
4 Messengers and 4 House coolies:-$156 to $204 by $12 after 3, 6, 9 and
12 years; and
1 Stoker:-216 to $240 by $12 annually.
35. Apart from these we understand that the Governor employs one chauffeur, three table boys, one hall boy, one personal boy, one kitchen boy, two cooks, nine house coolies, two amalis, one motor-cleaner, twelve chair coolies and one laundryman, whose wages exceed $7,000 per annum. We consider that the major portion of the Staff at Government House and Mountain Lodge should be provided for out of public funds and we recommend that a sum of $5,000 should be provided annually in the estimates for the purpose.
36. The Governor receives no conveyance or travelling allowance, but a sum of $1,040 is provided for running expenses of one car. We consider that the Governor should be provided with two cars and that they should be maintained and run at Govern- ment expense.
We consider also that the Governor should at all times, and his staff while on duty, have free conveyance on any of the Government launches.
37. Expenses are incurred from time to time for house decorations; we consider that these should be defrayed from public funds and that H. E. should be required to pay for coal, gas, electric fans, light and power only when consumed in the non-public rooms. The central heating plant recently installed in Mountain Lodge is required mainly for the preservation of the building and its contents from damp, and should be operated and maintained wholly at Government expense.
2. THE CADET SERVICE.
38. Since the revision of salaries in 1920 the emoluments of the Cadet Service have been determined by means of a "time scale" in so far as the junior or Class II Officers are concerned, with five posts on a higher scale of salary for senior or Class I Officers in charge of the main Departments of Government.
The scales then fixed commenced with a salary of £350 per annum for an Un- passed Cadet rising to-£375 on his passing his second examination in Chinese, usually after about one year's study, and to £100 per annum on passing his fourth and final ex- amination after a further year. Thereafter his salary rose by two annual increments of £25 and fifteen anmal increments of £50 to £1200 per annum with two "efficiency
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