CO129-587-19 Colonial Secretary's Office- vacancy for chief clerk 13-9-1940 - 30-5-1941 — Page 17

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their Service should be one of the gravest concern since it

has had and continues to have a serious and adverse

psychological effect upon your Petitioners who feel that there

now remain so few of the Special Appointments available to

them that the possibility of their being able notwithstanding

their most earnest and active efforts in their present

appointments to secure any more senior appointment is

extremely remote.

That in the year 1939 your Petitioners were requested to elect

whether they would adopt a new and revised scale of salary and

pensions or would continue to serve on the then existing terms.

A number of your Petitioners were considerably influenced in

their decision to elect to serve on the revised scale by the

prospect of future promotion and had they contemplated that

two of the Special Appointments then available to them would

be removed from their Service it is unquestionable that they

would have elected to continue to serve on the then existing

terms.

That while by reason of the action taken by the Colonial

Secretariat in regard to the appointment of Chief Clerk to

the Colonial Secretary your Petitioners can but conclude that

the Honourable the Colonial Secretary is not confident of the

ability of any one of your Petitioners to fill this Special

Appointment it is their conviction that this lack of

confidence is not felt by the Heads of several other important

Departments of the Government of HongKong, many of whom have

expressed themselves as having a high regard for the abilities

and efforts of some of your Petitioners.

That your Petitioners humbly request that before a final

decision is reached regarding the appointment of Chief Clerk

to the Colonial Secretary's Office from outside their Service

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