63
March 27, 1936
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
505
Over Fourteen Million Dollars For Salaries
--indeed he was quite unknown to me-but because it would show the nature of the effort which Government is stated to be mak- ing in carrying out the policy of reducing the number of Sterling paid men in the financial interests of the Colony.
NURSING SYSTEM
With reference to the statement of His Excellency Sir William Peel, already quoted above, on the ques- tion of Nursing Sisters, I confess I cannot understand why His Excel- lency should have regarded his own proposal, that local nursing sisters might be trained so as to "reduce the large number of sis- ters recruited from England," as a matter of mere "hope" and "pos- sibility," in view of the fact that Hong Kong annually produces scores of nurses qualified accord- ing to the presumably high and existing standard set by Govern- ment. In any case I venture to enquire what is the practical out- come of the deliberations between His Excellency and the Hon. the D.M.S.S.? According to the Es- timates for 1936 there are fifty Nursing sisters on the General Nursing Staff on Sterling pay which, at Exchange 1/8d, amounts tc $162,031.00. With a lower rate of Exchange, and with the stipu- lated annual increments, this amount must of course substan- tantially increase year by year.
From information given to me by those who have had actual ex- perience I know that the skill, care, solicitude and devotion bes- towed by these nursing sisters on their patients are beyond praise and cannot be measured in terms of any currency. Good nursing is indeed priceless. I gladly and gratefully record my sincere hum- ble tribute to them. But I submit that the financial condition of the Colony renders the carrying out of Sir William Peel's project a matter not only of expediency but of urgency.
THE OTHER POSTS
I understand that the present holder of the position of Secretary to the Hon. the Director of Public Works draws over £1,000 a year. 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 pro- fessional 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?
at
a
salary of
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 practition-
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 Om- | ers? 1 venture to suggest that cers in that Office, to have a
questions such as those indicated Chief Clerk
above should
engage the im- £1,050?
mediate attention of Government. Again, I yield to none in my ad- miration 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.
more
Can we really afford to have a special Sterling officer as Official Anæsthetist who, I un- derstand, will shortly join the Medical Department? Surely it would have been much economical to have engaged a doctor graduated from the Uni- versity of Hong Kong, and to have sent him to undergo a special course of training in Anæsthetics in Europe.
THE PUBLISHED FIGURES The published figures show that the expenses of the Medical De- partment rose from $502,000 odd In 1924, to $1,505,264 in 1934, and to $1,651,378 in the Estimates for 1936, of which $1,160,694 represents personal emoluments. No one can possibly have a higher admiration than I have for the services ren- dered by my Honourable friend the D.M.S.S., but apart from inatters 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 ex- tent 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
PENSION FIGURES
Then, look at the Penston figures. The amount of Pensions paid in a year rose from $503,000 odd in 1934, to the sum of $1,810,- 000 in the Estimates for 1936. I do not know whether Govern- ment has ever obtained actuarial assistance in computing the potential liability of the Colony for Pensions in respect of the existing Civil Establishment, but I shudder to think what this figure will be, say, in ten years' time, as the Pensions payable already amount to nearly $2,000- 000 a year!
In my submission what Govern- ment should do is to attempt to tackle the present financial posi- tion by business methods: in other words, by taking stock of the whole financial position and adjusting its expenditure in relation to its income, or probable income, for the present, and the years to come. To introduce the wholesale reduc- tion in the salaries of civil ser- vants avowedly as a temporary measure is at best a makeshift
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