CO129-569-5 Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps- pay for volunteers on mobilization 26-10-1938 - 20-4-1939 — Page 12

Copy to wo 2.

-5 N

53714/56

7

NOX SECRET.

Copy to the General Officer Commanding

The British Troops in China.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

26th October, 1938.

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that I have

had under consideration the question of the rates of

pay which should be provided under Section 12 of the

Volunteer Ordinance No. 10 of 1933 for volunteers on

mobilization.

2.

The view of the War Office as communicated

to this Government by the local military authorities

has hitherto been that there should be a differentiation

in the scales of pay accorded to European and

non-European volunteers on mobilization, and that such

scales should be based on and similar to those in force

for similar ranks in the regular army.

3.

The Commandant of the Volunteer Defence Corps

has recently gone carefully into the whole question with

a committee of his officers, and strongly recommends that

there be no differentiation made in the rates of pay to

any section of volunteers on the basis of race but that

a uniform rate applicable to the whole corps be fixed.

4.

The reasons put forward by the Commandant and

his committee are as follow :-

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

(i) Dissatisfaction in the Corps is inevitable

MALCOLM MACDONALD, M.P.,

&C.,

&C., &c.