52
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*Not printed.
Paragraphs 58-60. Secretariat for Chinese Affairs.
Paragraph 58.-As mentioned above under Cadet Service, the post of Secretary for Chinese Affairs is now a staff appointment with the maximum (£1,500) of the First Class scale as salary (fixed). In order to maintain this relative position the post should carry a revised salary of £1.800 per annum. The present holder Mr. Ħal- lifax, should retain his Personal Allowance of £300 per annum.
Paragraphs 66-70. District Officers North & South.
Paragraph 67.—It is agreed that there should be a single establishment of Land Bailiffs with a single salary scale for District Offices and Public Works Department. A recommendation for the improvement of the prospects of officers in this cadre is made under the latter department (paragraph 153).
Paragraphs 71-75. Post Office.
For the newly created post of Inspector of Postmen a revised salary of £260 to £430 by five annual increments of £10, three of £20 and four of £15 is recommend- ed, with an efficiency bar at £350. This scale represents an amalgamation of the scales recommended for 2nd and 1st class Sanitary Inspectors (paragraph 140). Present salary is £220-£360.
Paragraphs 82-92. Harbour Department.
The Harbour Master has made very strong representations as to the inadequacy of the salaries awarded to certain sections of his European staff, more especially the Marine Surveyors, Chief Boarding Officer, Chief Junk Inspector and Boarding Offi- cers. As, however, all the considerations urged by and on behalf of all these officers were before the Commissioners the Government finds itself unable to recommend any departure from the Report.
A petition from the Marine Surveyor against this decision is annexed.** It should be explained that General Order No. 12 referred to in this petition was issued with a view to preventing public funds from being saddled with pensions after com- paratively brief service on the part of the employee, and departure therefrom does not necessarily imply any exceptional value in the officer in whose favour it is made.
Paragraphs 101-105. Supreme Court
Paragraph 104.-The second Bailiff is a local man and received, on promotion to this post, a dollar salary of $3,000-$100-$3,600. The Commission was not aware of this arrangement, the salary of the post being still shewn in Sterling in the Esti- mates for 1929. It is recommended that this officer's revised salary be on the scale of $3.700 by $150 annually to $4,300.
The report contains no recommendation for the salaries of the Bailiffs' watch- men and Head Watchman; but it has been ascertained that $192 to $240 and $312 to $360 in each case by $12 triennially were intended for these officers respectively. Paragraph 110. Magistracy, Hong Kong.
The question of the First Clerk is dealt with under paragraph 47 supra.
Paragraphs 112-118. Police Force
Paragraph 112.-Although the Commissioners were informed by the Head of the Police Department of Government's proposals for re-naming and redistributing the senior staff of the Force, their report contains no inention of the scheme, presum- ably because it was not then definitely in being. It is now in force and provision must therefore be made for the Deputy Inspector General. A fixed salary of £1,400 per annum is recommended, the Inspector General's scale being at the same time altered to £1,450 to £1,600 by annual increments of £50,
Subsequently to the issue of the Report a new post of Assistant Storekeeper has been created in the Police Department and filled by a police officer who was on temporary pension as a result of wounds received on duty. The salary scale selected
for the post is £250 to £385 by £15 annually with existing conversion privileges and it is recommended that the revised salary shall be that of Class III, Senior Clerical & Accounting Staff, namely £250 to £445 by varying increments.
Paragraph 117.—It is recommended that the Gardener at Tai Po should be paid at the rate of $192 to $240 by $12 triennially (see para. 144). An efficient man cannot be obtained for less
Paragraphs 124-138.-Medical Department.
The Director of Medical and Sanitary Services has entered a strong plea for bet- ter terms for the Senior Staff of his Department mainly on the ground that the scales in the Report compare unfavourably with those of similar staff in other Colonies, es- pecially in Malaya. A copy of his representations is annexed.* All the main facts of *Not printed. his case, were, however, before the Commissioners and their dictum in paragraph 40 regarding pecuniary competition with richer colonies is as true of the Medical as of the Cadet Service. Also due regard must be had to the balance of the Report as
a whole. Any general increase in the awards to one Section of the Service can hardly fail to call forth or revive requests from other sections for similar conces- sions. Apart, therefore, from the items set out below, the Government is unable to recommend departure from the Report. It is nevertheless most important that the Colony should possess a thoroughly efficient Medical Service, and if suitable officers are really unobtainable at the salaries recommended by the Commissioners, in- creases will be considered. At the same time an endeavour will be made to extend in the higher ranks of the Medical Department the policy, already adopted in the Nursing establishment, of staffing all but "key" posts with Chinese officers Chinese
are studying medicine in ever increasing numbers and while by reason of their dif- ferent standard of living their salaries are on a much lower plane than those re- quired for European officers, it is hoped that their qualifications both theoretical and practical will reach the standard required for the public service of this Colony. Modification of the Report in respect of the following items is recommended:—
Paragraph 124.-The Government agrees that the Director of Medical and Sani- tary Services should be treated in all respects as a First Class officer and should receive a salary of £1,500 to £1,800 by £50 annually.
Considerable difficulty has been experienced in recruiting a Malarial Research Officer with the requisite experience. A candidate with long service under the Gov- ernment of the Federated Malay States has now been found who is willing to transfer on £1,280, the maximum proposed in the Report for a Senior Medical Officer, and it is recommended that for the immediate future this shall be the salary of the post.
It is considered that insufficient recognition is accorded by the Report to the spe- cialist qualifications of the Chinese Medical Officer of Health and his salary is re- commended to be $5,700 to $8,400 by $300 annually.
The Assistant Visiting Medical Officer to Chinese Hospitals and Medical Offi- cer for Schools are temporary appointments only in the same sense as the locally engaged European schoolmistresses (paragraph 148). It is recommended that in the case of the latter, the dollar salaries of these two officers shall be slightly in- creased to $7,800 and $6,600 respectively.
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Paragraph 125.-The salaries mentioned in the Report are for Chinese Radio- graphers. These have now been abolished and a European Radiographer appointed on a salary of £320-£360 by £10 annually. The equivalent of this in terms of the Report is £370-£430 by £15 annually and that salary is recommended for the post.
Paragraph 127-For the post of Assistant Steward, not covered by the Report, a salary of £310 to £350 by £10 annually is recommended.
Paragraph 133.-Two Chinese Boys, employed respectively in the Operating Theatre and X-ray Department and now drawing $240 a year, should receive the same salary as is recommended for Ward Boys in the Mental Hospital, viz :— $264- $360 by $24 triennially.
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