CO129-533-13 Salaries- conversion rate of sterling 30-1-1931 - 21-1-1932 — Page 301

11.

428

Comparison with the rates charged in the

cities and municipalities of England will show

very clearly that these rates are phenomenally

low; and it would assuredly work no hardship on

the population of the Colony if the rates were

substantially increased.

10. In this connection we venture to submit

that it is a fallacy to suppose that there is at

this time any monetary stringency among the

Chinese community who form over 90 per cent of the

taxpayers. This is evidenced by the fact that we

are in the midst of a land, property and building

boom exceeding that which occurred in the most

prosperous years before the 1925 strike and boycott.

The prestige of the British Crown demands that

the Colony should have an efficient administration

and proper amenities, and an efficient administration

and proper amenities cannot be obtained unless the

inhabitants and property owners of the Colony are

required to pay for them a reasonable price which

must be met by taxation.

23. Your Petitioners desire to call attention to

two anomalies which arise out of the determination

to require the sterling salaries of those serving

in the Colony to be paid at the rate now prescribed:-

(a) Whereas the officer actually serving

in the Colony will suffer a reduction of his

sterling salary, amounting to 15% in January,

the officer on leave in England will enjoy