July 25, 1908]
returned to them or to their legal represent atives as the case may be. (b) Widowers, in the event of the death of their wives, without children, or leaving children beyond the pensionable age, are permitted to cease their contributions on leaving the Service and obtain a refund of 50 per cent of their contributions from the date of their wives' deaths or of their children exceed ing pensionable age. (c) Compound interest at per cent. is allowed in calculating the contribu- tions of bachelors. This is a valuable privilege especially in the case of those officers who have served for a considerable period before marry. ing. (d) The new tables attached to this Bill are more favourable by from 15 per cent to 20 per cent, in the case of the average officer who has joined the Hongkong Service, and the fund, at the beginning of his career. On the other hand, the officer who joins the Service ever the age of forty will probably not get so good a pension for his widow and children
under the new tables as under the old ones. But it is provided that officers already in the Service shall not get less. The object is to prevent the fund being unduly burdened by large pensions to the widows of highly-paid officers who join this service late in life. Let me now turn for a moment to the objections that have been raised by the minority to the taking over of the fund by Government. First of all, there are the bachelors who object to be muloted for the benefit of their married colleagues. They are of two classes. The young and gay, whom I will designate the Butterfly Brigade." Of them it may be safely predicted that they will all marry as 800n as they can make up their minds which particular flower among the many they devote their attention to is likely to taste the sweetest over a period of years. The other is the smaller company of would-be misog-ynists. Any woman will tell fickle order of butterfly. I venture to predict you that these are easier to capture than the that they will go down like common nine- pins, if and when they meet the right girls, and the latter are favoured with opportunity. Then you have a small seot who disbelieve in disease and death. These hope for immortality. One can only envy their belief. But till some of them refuse to die we cannot well make ex-
ception in their favour. Then you have a squad which advocates provision of a capital sum for the maintenance of the widow instead of a pension. Now to this class I would speak a word of warning. The thing has been tried at home in the Workmen's Compensation Act and has proved a failure. Experience shows that none are so extravagant as widows left with a lump sum of money; and it has been observed that what they delight to waste their resources on is the acquistion of a new, and, as they think, more eligible husband. Now I am quite sure that no married contributor of the Hongkong Widows' and Orphans' Pension Fund would contemplate with equanimity the prospect of his widow falling into the arms of another man. Then you come to the individual who considers that if the Fund remained as it is, it might be possible to increase the pensions, awing to excess of contributions over pensions. It is extremely difficult to convince this class that in advancing this doctrine they are calling in question the calculations of the expert actuaries who valued the Fund in 1900, and the advice which the Secretary of State has since received from the actuaries. Now, Sir, as has been explained in the Secre- tary of State's despatch, the accuracy of the pension tables depends on two factors, namely, the oloseness of the approximation of the mortality experienced and that assumed in the mortality table; and secondly, the accuracy of the actuarial process by which the pension tables are deduced from the mortality table and the rules of the Fund. Let me give an example of how an actuary would value our Fund. He would take each individual contributor and make a creditor and debtor socount for him. credit side, he will put down the contributions On the already received from bim, accumulated at six per cent. compound interest, and also the calculated value of any future contributions. On the debit side he will put down the calculated value of any prospective pension to widow and children.
This value must, of course, be calculated by estimating the probability of the contributor dying in any one year; the probability in the event
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
are
of his death of his wife being alive and the expectancy of her life and enjoyment of her pension. that anyone will call in question the actus- Now I do not suppose rial process by which the calculations made. Life insurance companies never pre- sume to do so. that the determining factor in fixing the It will be seen, therefore, accuracy of the calculation is the socuracy of the mortality table. Owing to its peculiar con ditions it is impossible, and always will be, to get accurate mortality tables for Hongkong Men don't spend their lives here. That is the real reason. Therefore actuaries have been compelled to adopt the mortality tables of other colonies, and they are never likely to adopt others. If they wished to, a sufficient number of lives would have to be traced. The errors in calculation of the tables naturally decrease the members of the Fund are a small community larger the number of lives investigated is. The and to obtain tables of any degree of accuracy it would be necessary to obtain the statistics of the lives of contributors including the lives of their wives and children, in many thousands of tainty. It is exchange. The Fund is a dollar examples. There is another element of uncer.
fund since contributions are paid in dollars. Bat it
bas large and will have larger sterling liabilities. A substantial reserve must be kept to guard against fluctuations in exchange. For these reasons it is im- possible to hope for better pensions than aṛe now offered
certain
the contributors wish for the transferences, see no ground on which it can be opposed. opposing this measure, or rather for postponing Sir, I still consider that there are grounds for this measure. Even under the airoumstance that most of those who, until recently, found the present proposals inequitable, now regard them as advantageous, we have still to consider the rights of the minority. Lord Elgin's letter of January 1907 states that it is that the contributors should not feel that desirable
even a minority of the contributors. In many matters, perhaps in most, minority rights they have a grievance. I would add, not
have to be overridden. When the necessity presents itself it has to be borne like a necessity, is with stoicism. But in this affair it appears to me that there is no such necessity, no need to ride rough shod even over a minority. If it be
light of an up-to-date valuation of the fund, the case that no manner of injustice is pro- posed; if the present proposal, viewed in the contains nothing but unadulterated justice and generosity, why not wait until this truth has been made triumphantly manifest? The Home tion of the fund should be made, and they Authorities admit that it is reasonable for the contributors to ask that an up-to-date valan- promise to have one made, and furthermore promise
concessions if the state of the It seems to
fand, as valued, warrante it. me that this valuation ought to ba made before legislating. In the 0880) Lastly there is the objector who
of Mauritius the objects that the Fund should be valued be.
reasonableness of a similar demand was apparently admitted,-a fore Government takes it over and not after. will be seen from the decretary of State's Now, the pension tables adder the existing Ordinance are different to the tables jand the
letter of January .907 in our case there is Bill now before Council.
no hurry. Only urgency could justify, State has promised that there shall be valuation
it seems to me, the letter of the Secretary The Secretary of
of State, dated 29th December after this
1907, Bill b-oomes law under the new
wherein Your Exellency is instructed that the any balance is available for distribution among deals with the afsirs of our own household. tables for the purpose of ascertaining if proposal must be adopted. Tas proposed legis- lation is essentially of a domestic nature. It present subscribers in the shape of have to be two valuations which would be and the Officials of the Colony. The interest bonuses on the pensions. There would thus
It primarily concerns the people who pay sad the people who benefit the Hongkong public a heavy expense to burden the fund with. And for the reasons stated above a valuation of the Home Authorities in the matter is now without any real experience of the mortality comparatively remote, merely academic, in a would not throw any material additional light among subscribers to the Hongkong Fundsense-unless indeed we are to understand that
on the matter. It may be objected that in such case the Government incurss risk in taking over the Fund. Well, it cannot be denied that it incurs a responsibility. Whether there is a risk or not turns on the paint whether the mortality experience of Ceylon is too favourable, In other words whether Ceylon is a bealthier place to live in than Hongkong. I think that it may fairly be assumed that there is probably little difference and that therefore Government does not incur undue risk in guaranteeing the pensions calculated in the tables attached to his Bill.
the
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded,
In that corres-
cellency, The interesting speech to which we Hon. Mr. MURRAY STEWART-Your Ex- have just listened is an instructive comment on the correspondence which was laid on the table of this Council a week ago. pondence, it appears to me, are to be found all the facts to which our attention has been drawn, and it is, to say the least of it, remark- able that the significance of these facts has been so long in impressing themselves upon the minds of officials in this Colony, including the Hon. Colonial Beoretary. In his letter of 24th June, 1907, he referred to the fact that the contributors felt that the Hongkong fand had had a favourable start, and had accumulated so rapidly that they might confidently look forward to a possible increase in pensions, even on the Ceylon rates, if the fund were kept separate and further valuations were made from time to time: He did not dissent from that view, and that view is urged with even greater force in the report made by the directors of the fund, and by the committee which was ap- fund, and is signed by members of this Council pointed to inquire into the circumstances of the
it is not captions criticism which describes this now present. Therefore it seems to me that change of attitude as a remarkable conversion. We now learn that the majority is in favour of the proposals which, a year ago—and to my certain knowledge very much less than a year ago were regarded as inequitable. It will naturally be mid “If the majority
of
the Imperial Government guarantees these pensions. I seek information on this point. of course it is easy to conceive that, for the convenience of the Colonial Office, uniformity with other Colonies in each details of adminí. stration is desirable, but considerations arising out of a perhaps too exclusive study of that
ment of a policy of persuasion in favour of a convenience can hardly be reckoned of such first rate importance as to justify the abandon- policy of coercion. We can all understand that it is irritating to the Head of a Department, bent on simplifying the work of his office, to find his plans upset by men showing an unexpected tenacity in holding on to what they conceive to be their rights. Bat such small sources of irritation surely do not affect the atmosphere of the Olympian heights upon which Secretaries of State are supposed to live and rather remarkable, and move and have their being, and it is therefore that impatience in dealing with this. dif
think regrettable, ficult and perplexing question should ultimately have been shown. Those who may feel called upon to deny that the Home Authorities have displayed impatience will doubtless point to the fact that as long ago as April 1902 they approached the Local Government on the subject, but I would point out that it was not until January 1907 that any reasonable defence of the present proposal was made. The subject and even now there are many contributors of to understand, accredited intelligence who think that until a is unfair to ask them to relinquish their rights new valuation of the fund has been made, it in it. From their point of view the bargain proposed by this Bill resembles the proverbial fair enough, but if I were contributor, and pig in s poke. The bargain proposed may be
tributor who thought otherwise should be thought so, I should still think that no con- compelled to
become a party_tó1 it' I hot appreciate the
reasons for urgency which the action of the Home Authorities seema to imply. If the Local Government had bran impatient it would be comprehensible enogta Three lakhs into general revenue in one enti
is
most difficult one
·
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.