CO129-569-7 Revision of salaries 6-7-1938 - 11-10-1938 — Page 64

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Comparisons have also been made with other technica 1 posts, e.g. Assessors, Karine Surveyors, and Assistants, Aerodrome.

As to these it is difficult to make comparisons with other

territories because comparatively few such territories have

organized services in those branches. It will, however, be

recalled that the Marine Surveyors recently submitted a petition,

which was found to be in the main well founded, praying for the

improvement of their salaries to some thing approximating to the

standard of Public Works engineers. Comparison is also made of

the position of Executive Engineers with that of such officers as

the Superintendent of Crown Lands, Assessor and Government Marine

Surveyor. There is, however, the important difference in the

position of these officers that they are independent or semi-

independent heads of departments and have no prospects of further

promotion, to which an Executive Engineer can certainly aspire.

I may add that neither the Assessor nor the Government Marine'

Surveyor regards the salary proposed for his post as adequate in

relation to the salary now proposed for Executive Engineers.

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Representations are also made on the matter of promotion

prospects. It is contended in the first place that serving

officers are entitled to the preservation of existing prospects.

This principle was definitely rejected in Mr. Ormsby-Gore's

despatch No. 221 of 12th June, 1937, as quoted in paragraph 23 of

the Anomalies Committee's Report. If that decision were not

sufficient, it would be pertime nt to point out that the majority

of the petitioners joined the Service before 1930 and cannot

claim to have been attracted to it by the salaries prescribed

for senior posts by the Gollan Commission.

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More generally, I fear that attention is concentrated

too much on the Hong Kong Service itself. The theory of a

unified Colonial Service is that higher posts are open to all

officers in the unified services, not merely those in the

particular Colony concerned.

In actual fact such particulars as