CO129-558-3 Levy on Salaries- petition from Chinese Civil Servants 3-1-1936 - 19-12-1936 — Page 12

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(in so far as they

are issued locally)

I am not sure that all the assumptions

upon which Mr. Acheson's minute and draft are based

are correct. As I read the telegram, the Governor

proposes that officers on sterling salaries should

suffer in two ways:-

(1) by having their salaries/ converted into

salaries

dollars at a fluctuating rate which would always be

considerably less favourable than the current rate;

and

(2) by the imposition of a percentage levy as

indicated in Part I of the scheme. The combined

effect of these two measures is estimated to impose

an equal burden upon the sterling-paid officers a

that imposed by the levy described in Part II upon

the dollar-paid officers. If this is correct, it

quite

is not fair to draw

fair

the comparisons made at X in

Mr. Acheson's minute, since the dollars received by

the sterling-paid officer would already represent

less than he would ordinarily be entitled to receive.

I am not equal to working out whether in fact the

proposed arrangement does achieve equality of

sacrifice, but, if it does, I should see no objection

to agreeing to it as a temporary measure, though

I agree with Mr. Acheson in thinking that, in view of

the present uncertainty, the whole thing should be

subject to frequent periodical review, and that we

should not commit ourselves to any particular rate

beyond, say, the first quarter of the year.

as

I feel, however, that, whatever may be done

a purely emergency measure, the whole situation

requires a good deal of consideration with a view to

putting these salary questions on a more satisfactory

basis for the future. The complications with which

we have to deal on this paper arise out of the

traditional