CO129-607-5 Police Department- Indian Section 8-1-1946 - 15-9-1947 — Page 9

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Mr. Lloyd

I send this file on in view of Mr. Rogers' note on the Hong Kong telegram at (34B).

I agree with Miss Macpherson that we must find out whether the India Office see any objection to the proposals which have been put forward by the Governor since they will, in fact, result in discrimination against the Sikhs.

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I would consult the India Office at once, saying that if they see objection to the proposals as they stand, we should be very grateful for any suggestions they may have to offer for modifying them propesale without prejudice to the attainment of the objective of those Noposater

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I will also send an interim reply to the Governor, explaining that the proposals in his despatch of the 10th September have been referred to the Treasury and that the India Office are being consulted regarding the proposals in his telegram. I would also propose to ask the Governor whether he can give us an approximate estimate of the additional expenditure involved by his proposals in (34b) as compared with the alternative of dispensing with all those over and above the number required for the reduced force, thus avoiding any further recruitment, and for any views he may have on the latter alternative.

I am very much afraid that the India Office will see objection to the Governor's proposals in No.34b and if we reach an impasse with the India Office and/or the Treasury, it might be useful to get agreement to the European Assistant Superintendent going to India to find out the facts, namely how many of the existing members of the Indian section are willing and fit to return, and to send a nominal roll of those officers, together with his recommendations to the Hong Kong Government, who could then put up further proposals to us in the light of this additional information. When we get these particulars, we may find there is no necessity to take any measures involving racial discrimination to achieve the objective of a reliable Indian contingent of 300 strong.

In this connection, I might perhaps add that it seems to me that the Governor's proposals in his telegram at (34b) are little less open to objection, on grounds of discrimination than would be the abolition of the Sikh contingent.

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-17.10.46.

We have since discussed. In view of the unfortunate delay which has already occurred in dealing with the Governor's telegram of the 19th September (mainly due to a misunderstanding over the despatch referred to in that telegram) and as it is fairly certain that the India Office would object to any proposals involving racial discrimina- tion, you felt that we ought to get a telegram off

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