CO129-599-1 Salaries Commission 8-12-1947 - 22-12-1947 — Page 131

53723/48

Colonial Office,

The Church House,

Great Smith Street,

S. W. 1.

20th May, 1948.

134

259

Dear Gerpell,

1.

Will you please refer to Hong Kong telegrams Nos. 376 and 377 of the 9th and 10th Apr11 respectively, about the administrative time-scale and related matters?

2.

As regards the time-scale I attach a statement illustrating the various proposals.

In referring to the pensionable emoluments of officers on the "pro-African" scale the Governor is apparently taking into account the "pensionable credit" allowed to those officers for purposes of calculating pension. The pensionable emoluments which would be actually drawn by officers while in service, either under the Galeries Commission proposal or under the Suggested / modified form of this proposal from here, would of

course be higher than those actually drawn on the "pre-African" scale. We do not feel that the Hong Kong argument for a further modification of the proposed administrative scale in so far as it is based on this point about the ef ect on pensions is overwhelming, though it certainly has abgency in so far as the last years on the scale are concerned. Here of course the effect of our proposed modification of the Salaries Commission scale would be to reduce pensions in certain casos below what would have been earned under the "pre- African" scale and clearly that is an objectionable feature.

\.

S RPELL, ESU., 0.

0.7.5.

Apart