CO129-558-3 Levy on Salaries- petition from Chinese Civil Servants 3-1-1936 - 19-12-1936 — Page 91

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畜

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

I gladly concede this gentleman's exceptional ability and that he is worth this pay. But the point is: Is it really necessary to employ such a high salaried man for this post? I may remark that this salary is higher than that now paid to many experienced professional men in the Service, such as doctors and solicitors.

Is it a fact that a sterling man is employed as Librarian of the Library at the C.S.O., and if so, is this necessary?

Is it really necessary to have so many Europeans on Sterling basis on the staff of the C.S.O.? Or, with so many Cadet Officers in that Office, to have a Chief Clerk at a salary of £1,050?

Can we really afford to have a special sterling officer as Official Anaesthetist who, I understand, will shortly join the Medical Department? Surely it would have been much more economical to have engaged a doctor graduated from the University of Hong Kong, and to have sent him to undergo a special course of training in Anaesthetics in Europe.

The published figures show that the expenses of the Medical Department rose from $502,000.00 odd in 1924, to $1,505,264.00 in 1934, and to $1,651,378.00 in the Estimates for 1936, of which $1,160,694.00 represents personal emoluments. No one can possibly have a higher admiration than I have for the services rendered by my Honourable friend the D.M.S.S., but apart from matters like the Children's Clinic, Venereal Clinics, Medical Services in the New Territories, are the medical facilities and the general medical and public health standard in the Colony improved to such an extent as to merit an extra annual expenditure of over a million dollars when the figures for 1924 and 1936 are compared? In any case, can the Colony afford it?

To what extent are the increased hospital and other medical facilities offered by Government made use of by those who can afford to pay reasonable charges for the same? And, to the extent indicated above, are not such facilities merely competitive with those offered by private practitioners? I venture to suggest that questions such as those indicated above should engage the immediate attention of Government.

Again, I yield to none in my admiration and respect for the Police Force, but are all the numerous Assistant Superintendents of Police really necessary? I should very much like to know how many Assistant Superintendents we had, say, fifteen years ago.

Then, look at the pension figures. The amount of pensions paid in a year rose from $503,000.00 odd in 1924, to the sum of $1,810,000.00 in the Estimates for 1936. I do not know whether Government has ever obtained actuarial assistance in computing the potential liability of the Colony for pensions in respect of the existing