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THE HONG KONG WEEKLY PRESS &
March 27, 1936
OVER FOURTEEN MILLION
DOLLARS
FOR SALARIES
DRASTIC RETRENCHMENT URGED
BY MR. M. K. LO
Civil Service
Overstaffed
And Overpaid
Astonishing figures revealing the colossal burden of the Hong Kong Civi Service salaries, were made by the Hon. Mr. M. K. Lo at the Legislative Council Meeting of the Hong Kong Government which was held on Thursday in the Council Chamber, when he moved a resolution that in the opinion of the Council, the Colony could "not afford to maintain so large and costly a Civil Service as now exists, and that the Government should take immediate steps to effect all possible retrenchments". Mr. Lo revealed that the full bill for salaries amounted to over fourteen million dollars annually, leaving just over nine and a half millions to cover the whole cost of civil administration.
Sir Henry Pollock, the Senior Unofficial member of the Council spoke in sup- port of Mr. Lo's resolution, while Sir Thomas Southorn, the Colonial Secretary in replying to Mr. Lo said that the Government would be inclined to agree, if the inover (Mr. Lo) would add the proviso "in the present circumstances". One was apt to be misled by metaphors and it would seem that the Hon. Mr. Lo contemplated a static Colony, which had reached the end of its growth. This argument was implicit in his views, whether intentional or not, and with this view, the Government could not agree.
The Colony had grown enormously and was growing continuously, with a con- sequent increase of staff to cope with this advance. Mr. Lo's arguments did not present a true picture of the real state of affairs. A comparison of the Colony with the F.M.S., Straits Settlement, Kenya, and Nigeria would show that the cost of ad- ministration in Hong Kong was 38 per cent., as against 41.1 per cent. in the Straits Settlement, 37 per cent. in Kenya and 36.1 per cent. in Nigeria.
His Excellency the Governor replying on behalf of the Government thanked the Hon. Mr. Lo for "a most usefully critical speech." "I can assure this Council that the Government will, so long at any rate as I am associated with it, react to Mr. Lo's two main points: firstly, that staff must be kept at the minimum conpati- ble with efficiency: second, that the percentage of local recruits must be kept at the maximum so compatible".
Later His Excellency said "while therefore I am not prepared to subscribe to the letter of this motion I have a grateful sympathy with its spirit, and I will say now on behalf of the Government that no vacant post on the establishment will be filled without examining the possibility of its retrenchment and that no officer will be engaged from Overseas without first examining the possibility of a local recruit-
ment.
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