CLOSED UNTIL
Previous
Subsequent
HONG KONG
Co 129 50H 16.
Junior Cadet Officers
Petition from for revision of salaries
Co 129/504/16.
Mi Parkin 9/6
Iin Bali 18/6
zr In Ellis
J. Kindle ₤2014 Shwilon 15/6 Jeton by face 28/6. Bee of State 29/6
For Soot syst Tn Emmem
(60318) Wt. 17930-38 15,000 12/26 H.St. G. 101/33A.
(Ford, petition with obson)
I sympathise with for petitioners
if the financial position
desiratu
concessions.
concession
the fall of
lum dollan
Privilege scheme benefits only the senior officus.
Refly that unlift sageli to harn
of the difficult position in
Themselves
competitions find
with for's view that
Colony ond
him to suffort
in it's service. hevertheless
cannot ceasonally expect that
for's desp. he
offentia but for the consons stated in pere 7 B
we have been incluindo
recommend that
Com casseung
in present cives he
pelikoners
way to intubening on behalf of
Pagree to the 17.
anoue in the
Circumstances - but thinkin
suburies hall have toraces the rebrin
of Cadets both in H.Ming
I Malaya
Crit Puverts were content be Fathe
somatter saberies than they
could have obtained in commerivl
life owing to the gratis knuz in ut. The perpassion
& durantes But now that honours & are
Romered on tunniss inducement notonger visto.
I agree.
Wather & Ellis
We shall have to have fewer cadets,
betta paid.
G.G. 20.6.27 ff
2 To Ga. 195
Mr Armoby fore
Joe of flate.
I think we should replyes
at A` over page.
6 JUL 1927
Wot 28-6-27
Jr. Busch 11)
Mr. E. J. Harding.
Sir C. Strachey.
Sir J. Shuckburgh.
Sir G. Grindle.
Sir C. Davis.
Sir S. Wilson.
Mr. Ormsby-Gore.
Earl of Clarendon.
Mr. Amery.
C. D. R 4 JULY DX
16 July 195
Ihan or to ask. The
receipt. 7
Your tesp. no.70 25 72 7
Ahore Funding
a petition
number of Junior
Cade offices of tho It!.
Civil service sot me fr
resive of thei
2. I meaned.
learn of to defpienet
position in which the
petitioners and
tunadoes, but I gre
your vein trat
tral a Cadel Cannol-
red nably expect that the Colony shu.
enable him is support
a wife before
rha, been six years
i dis device
Lie rotheless but for the consons
homas.and 7 ) for despatite I
Pisen neho a
trai come cars was he? % made
To Cream dances in whack
wow missalia frant
ext trai. I to not
Jelitiins
behalf. I
(Signed) L. S. AMERY
Ausd 195
6 JUL 1927
RECEIVED
114MAY 1927
COL. OFFICE
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG,
7th April, 1927.
I have the honour to transmit a petition
for revision of their salaries from the eight Junior
Cadet Officers of the Hong Kong Civil Service not including
the 1926 1927 recruits.
The argument based up on the salary - scales
obtaining in other Crown Colonies and in India appears to
me fallacious. Many factors besides mere salary go to
make up the attractions of a service. And if Hong Kong
has been unable to recruit her full quota of Cadets, Malaya
which is one of the Colonies contrasted by petitioners,
has been even less successful.
Similarly the comparison between the Cadets and other branches of the Hong Kong Service appears to me
superficial. If the former start at a disadvantage, they
end with a great advantage. The highest non-cadet post
in the Education department has a maximum of £1,100. The
maximum for Medical Officers excluding the Principal Civil
Medical Officer is £1,000 and for Engineers the same, and
apart from the post of Director there are only four posts
in the Public Works Department rising to £1,200. Cadet
Officers if reasonably efficient rise by annual increments
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LIEUTENANT COLONEL L.C.M.S. AMERY, M.P.,
22023/26
to £1,200 and have good prospects of reaching £1,500.
Moreover it must be observed that despite the admitted
severity of the study required to bring an officer success-
fully through the qualifying examination, he is not in
fact of any service to this Goverment for the further
period of two years during which he is studying Chinese
and is during that time a non-productive charge on the
funds of the Colony. Even after passing in Chinese, the
average Cadet Officer requires a further period of at least six months before he can be of any positive
administrative value. A medical officer, a schoolmaster
or an engineer, on the other hand is competent to give service from the day of his appointment.
The position of the Cadet Officer immediately
on passing his final examination in Chinese is correctly stated in paragraph (3) of the letter of 8th October, 1926, which forms Enclosure No. 1 to the petition. This anomaly
is one which should be corrected whenever the salary scales
are next under revision. It is hardly of sufficient
importance to justify a special revision at the present time.
It is moreover the case that there has been
a distinct rise in the cost of living since the last general
revision of salaries and that this has recently been
aggravated by the fall in the sterling value of the Dollar, (see page 6 of my despatch No. 449 of 29th October, 1926)
also that its effects have been mitigated by certain
concessions which benefit senior far more than junior
officers. But the main grounds for the concessions referred
to are, first, that such senior officers are normally
married men and have families and secondly that European
lies,and
children
children cannot be kept in the Far East after a certain
age without danger to their bodily and mental health. I
do not overlook the fact that the new rent-allowance rules
18445/4800 18449 see my Confidential despatch of 25th August, 1926) apply
to bachelors, but that application is merely an inevitable and equitable extension of a rule primarily designed for
the assistance of the separated husband.
The main argument of the petitioners seems
to be that a Cadet should receive a salary sufficient for
his support as a married man as soon as he becomes a passed
Cadet. It may be admitted without argument that a married
officer with the status of a Cadet cannot, even if he has
no family, and with all the privileges in the matter of
exchange and rent, live here on less than £550 per annum.
But I do not consider that a cadet has any right to expect
that the Colony shall enable him to support a wife before
he has been six years in its service, and I find that the
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is even more
drastic in its rules, in that it refuses to allow members
of its European staff to marry before they have completed ten years foreign service, which in practice means that the marrying age is not under 31. It is unlikely that any of
these officers, had he adopted one of the learned professions
instead of joining the Civil Service would have been earning
an income which would have supported him as a married man
under six years.
Even if on general grounds such as the
increase in the cost of living or the necessity for making
the service more attractive to candidates, I had been disposed to support some financial concessions, I could not at the present juncture have done so, because similar
applications
applications from some if not all other branches of the
service would certainly result, and the state of the public purse renders a general improvement in salaries out of the question at the present time. I regret, therefore,
that I am unable to commend the petition to your favourable
consideration.
I have the honour to be,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Governor, &c.
Hong Kong
22nd, February, 1927.
Enclosures
The Right Honourable
Lieutenant Colonel L.C.M.S.Amery, M.P.
etc., etc., etc.
In accordance with Colonial Regulation
212 we, the undersigned Cadet Officers of the
Hong Kong Civil Service, who were appointed un-
der the post reconstruction scheme of Selection
i.e. since 1921, have the honour to submit for
your favourable consideration this our petition
for an increase of salary.
Enclosures 1 & 2 are copies of letters
which we addressed on 8th, October and 31st.Dec-
ember 1926, to the Honourable the Colonial Seo-
retary for the consideration of His Excellency
the Governor,
His Excellency was unable to ac-
cede to our request.
It will be noticed that the signatu-
res appended to our second letter do not include
those of Mr. G.S.Kennedy Skipton, Mr. R.R.Todd,
and Mr. B.C.K. Hawkins. The former proceeded
on leave in November of last year, and the two
latter were studying Chinese in Macau,
In all there are, including Mr.Ken-
nedy Skipton, eight signatories, representing
one quarter of the total number of cadet offi-
eers in the Hong Kong Civil Service.
ble attached gives our ages, dates of appoint- ment, dates of increment and present salaries,
ge 10Page 11
Enclosure 3,
Continued. 2
3. The chief ground on which we base our
appeal to you is that our present salaries are
insufficient to live on. Two of us are married, as
is also Mr. Kennedy Skipton, and one intends to get
married in the course of the year, when he has
passed his final examination in Chinese. Those of
us who are married venture to assure you that even
by the exercise of the strictest economy we are out
of pocket to the extent of approximately £100 a year.
That a Cadet officer of over four years service
should have to depend on the charity of relations
in order to make both ends meet is not, we venture
to suggest, a satisfactory state of affairs. The
bachelor Cadets are of course less hardly pressed,
but, as we pointed out in our letter of 31st December
to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, the salary
of a passed Cadet should, we submit, be sufficient to permit of an officer marrying without the inevitable consequence of financial embarrassment.
Since 1920 when the present salary scale
was brought into force the cost of living has gone up. Recently this has been accentuated by the fall of the
dollar. We had confidently hoped that our financial
embarrassment was to be alleviated by a scheme to compensate for the fall of the dollar. But the scheme turned out to be the Remittance Privilege Scheme, which ipso facto does not benefit us in the slightest degree. A young married officer invariably has his wife living with him in the Colony, and bachelors are of course excluded from the operation of the scheme. On the other hand a senior officer with a salary of £800-£1500 per annum will, if he is married and has his wife and/or children at home, be paid one third or one quarter of his salary, as the case may be, at the priviliged rate of exchange reconverted into
Continued. 3
sterling at 88 to the £, and re-reconverted into
dollars at the current rate of the day.
Again it is the senior officer who
will benefit most, and the junior officer least,
by the proposed amendments to the Rent Allowance
rules. Under this amendment the senior officer
with a salary of £800-£1500 per annum will, if he
is married and living quasi single in a club or
hàtel in the Colony, be given a rent allowance of
2100 per month. If he is a bachelor he will
receive $50 per month. The junior bachelor cadet
on £425 per annum will receive about 825 per
month, and if he is on £450 per annum about 830
per month. On the other hand the junior married
officer, with his wife in the Colony and living
in Government quarters, will as in the case of
the remittance privilege receive nothing.
It will be seen therefore that whilst
much has been done andis being done to alleviate
the financial condition of the senior officer,
nothing at all has been or is being done for the
Junior married cadet officer. And it is the officer
with the small salary who has the least margin, and
who feels first and most acutely any increase in
the cost of living from whatever cause. ▲ senior
officer with a nominal salary of $1500 per month
will, by the benefits of the remittance privilege
and the proposed new rent allowances, receive an
actual salary of $1700 to 1850 per month, according to the recent market rates of the dollar.
We would also refer to paragraph 2 of
our latter of 8th October and to paragraph 3 of
our letter of 31st December to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, pointing out the unfavourable comparison which our initial salary bears to that
Continued. 4
of other departments in the Colony: Publie
Works, Education, and Medical.
8. The present scale of salary for
Unpassed Cadets is £350 to £375 by an annual
increment of £25. On becoming a passed Cadet
it is £400 to £1200 by two annual increments
of £25 and fifteen of £50. We humbly suggest
that this be amended as follows:-
For Unpassed Cadets no change.
For Pased Cadets £450 to £1200 by
two annual increments of £25 and fourteen of
£50. We would also humbly request that the
first six signatories be placed on this revised
scale by the grant of an extra increment of
£50 with effect from 1st January of this year,
retaining their present dates of increant, and
that Mr. Todd and Mr. Hawkins proceed to £450
per annum on the date of their becoming passed
The cost to Government of these
concessions for this year would at most be
8 X £50, making a total of £400. For this sum
it is probable that there will be funds
available on Head 3. Cadet Service, page 13
of the printed Estimates for 1927. There is the
lapsing salary of Mr. Dyer Ball transferred to
Ceylon, and in addition provision has been made
for three new Cadets, whereas only two have
been appointed.
Finally we would state that it is
with great reluctanee that we petition for an
increase of salary at a time like the present,
though as we have pointed out in paragraph 9
above the cost to Government for this year
would only amount to £400.
Continued. 5
It is not an agreeable task to admit
that one is financially embarrassed, and
in our two letters to the Honourable the
Colonial Secretary we purposely refrained
from stressing this point as we were
convinced of the justice of our claims on
other grounds. As however those claims
have been disallowed we are compelled
humbly to petition you to alleviate our
present financial embarrassment.
We have the honour to be
Your most obedient humble servants
H. R. Butters
G. S. Kennedy Skipton
T. Megarry
A. V. G. H. Grantham
J. S. McLaren
E. H. Williams
R. R. Todd
B. C. K. Hawkins
2 Butter.
On leave
Algautham
Sick in Hospital with Typhoid
RR. Todd
B.CK. Hawkin
Enclosure 1.
The Honourable,
The Colonial Secretary.
Hong Kong.
8th October, 1926.
We, the undersigned, junior cadets of the
Hong Kong Civil Service, have the honour to address you
on the subject of the scale of salary of Fassed Cadets,
and without prejudice to the claims of other officers,
we shall be much obliged if you will kindly place the
following facts and recommendations before His
Excellency the Governor for his favourable consideration.
We can be regarded as a distinct group in
the Cadet Service as we were appointed after examination
under the revised scheme which was inaugurated in 1921.
Further, the existing scale of salaries for the Hong
Kong Cadet Service has only been in operation since
1920. The ex-war cadets have been granted certain
salary concessions. It is only we who by experience
are qualified to speak of the working of the existing
scale of salaries so far as it affects one's early
years of service.
We would suggest an amendment to that scale
on four grounds.
(1) Comparison with India and the grouped Crown
Colonies, appointments to which are made as
result of the one examination.
In addition to the lesser scope for an
officer in Hong Kong, and the fewness of the first class posts to which he may hope to rise, there is the
fact that the initial salaries (and by initial we mean
the salaries for the first five years of service) in
Hong Kong, by unfavourable comparison, are little
likely to attract the best men to this Colony.
A comparative table of the salaries in
Continued. (2)
Hong Kong, India, Ceylon, and Malaya is appended. (table 1)
We would invite reference to the fact that all these
scales, with the exception, at certain stages, of that of
Malaya, are superior to that of Hong Kong. In the case of
Malaya, we would refer to the fact that by the system of
acting appointments in force there, most junior cadets are
acting in, and being paid on the scale of, higher posts than
is indicated on the salary scheme.
(2) Comparison with the initial salaries of other depart-
ments in this Colony.
We, alone, are selected on the results of a competitive
examination. Our age is as advanced as that of the entrants
to these Departments. We omit mention of Police Probationers
who are recruited at an earlier age than we are. Men from the
same universities as we, whose scholastic attainments (and we
would submit that medical, education, and engineering courses
are no more specialised than the ones we have to take to fit
ourselves for the Civil Service examination) are in no way
superior to ours, are for many years better paid.
Reference to the table (II) attached, will show that a
cadet has to serve five years before he draws the same salary
as an officer of the Education Department, seven years before
he overtakes engineers of the Fublic Works Department, and
fourteen years before his salary equals that of an officer of
the Medical Department.
(3) Comparison of our real salary before and after passing
our final Chinese examination and becoming Passed Cadets
In this connection we venture to invite your attention
to an anomaly in the working of the present scale. A cadet,
after passing his first Chinese examination, is paid 375 per
month, plus free quarters or 860 house allowance in lieu there
of, plus free medical attendance. On passing his final
examination, his salary is 3400 per month minus $23.30 if
he is allotted furnished Government quarters. Where an officer
has to find quarters for himself the loss is still greater.
His nominal advance of $25 per month is thus in reality a
Continued. (3)
reduction of 835 per month on his real salary.
(4) Comparison of the cost of living in 1920 and now.
The cost of living has, since the existing scale was designed, gone up to a degree variously estimated at from
30% to 60%. In addition, the dollar is falling, and the
exchange compensation which is valuable when the dollar is
at 2/6 or above, is, at present, vastly minimised in its
advantages. We would point out, too, that such compensation
is not granted during leave, in which respect our scheme
compares unfavourably with that of the Malayan Service who
are paid at the same rate at home as in Malay.
We have had under consideration the question of
proposing annual increments of £50 after reaching 2400, but
we regard this, while beneficial, as not removing the anomaly
mentioned in paragraph (3).
We would, therefore, humbly petition His Excellency
that the salary scale be amended as following:-
Instead of £350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 500
read £350, 375, 450, 475, 500, 550
and thereafter by increments of £50 as at present.
We consider the present scale sufficient for the first
two years during which we are studying Chinese and are more
or less regarded as probationers, and are not required to
live in Hong Kong for any considerable time.
We would invite reference to our previous statements,
and to the fact that the nominal increment of £75 (as
proposed) on passing the final Chinese examination, represents
in reality, only an advance of $15 per month.
We further, humbly petition that we may be placed as
though we had been on the amended scale from the commencement
of our service.
Finally, we would add, that the adoption of our
proposals would eventually amount to a grant, to all of us,
of one year's increant in advance of our seniority, but that
it would be most beneficial to men on their first being
recalled for service in Hong Kong, while the expense to the
Continued (4)
Government would be small as compared to the benefits which
would accrue to the Colony in enhancing its attractions in
the eyes of prospective cadets, and to your petitioners in
relieving them of the financial stringency which embarrasses
them in their early years of service.
We have the honour to be,
(Signed)
Your obedient servants,
H. R. Butters.
G. S. Kennedy Skipton.
T. Megarry.
A. W. G. H. Granthan.
J. S. McLaren.
E. H. Williams.
R. R. Todd.
B. C. K. Hawkins.
TABLE I.
Years of Service. Hong Kong.
(Initial Salary)
Rs. 1000 plus Rs.150
Oversea's
Allowance
=2919. 16/-
Rs. 1050
Rs.1150 plus Rs.200
Rs. 1275
Rs.1425 plus Rs.250
Rs. 1500
Rs. 1800
Rs.2050 plus Rs.250
Z £1839. 12/- Rs.2100
5 Senior Rs.2250
salaries up to
Indefinite possibilities
14 Senior posts Class with salaries
£1400-£1550
8 Grade I
Senior posts
£1600-£1750
Staff Officers
9 Staff appoint-
ments $1200
-1450 Chief
Secretary
82200 Colonial
Secretary
(A) Salaries of various Departments of the Hong Kong
Civil Service.
Years of Service. Cadet Service. Education. P. W. D.
Medical,
(Initial Salary)
Salaries of various Departments in India.
Years of Service.
Indian Civil Service. Medical.
Education. P.W.D.
N.B. (B) (1) Exclusive of allowances.
(2) We are unable to obtain full particulars of
salaries previous to the fifth year of service.
TABLE III.
Proposed amendment of Salary Scale for Cadets.
Years of Service.
Initial Salary
Old Scale.
New Scale.
By increments of £50 to £1200
By increments of £50 to £1200 as before.
Enclosure 2..
Hon. Colonial Secretary,
We, the Cadet Officers appointed under the Fost- reconstruction scheme, have the honour to address you on
the subject of our petition to His Excellency the Governor
for an increase of salary, which was forwarded to you on
8th October, 1926.
Although we have received no definite reply,
we understand that certain points were raised by you and
by Mr. Mc. Elderry, then Assistant Colonial Secretary.
These points we endeavour to meet below, and we request
you to be so good as to grant us an interview to enable
us further to present our case.
It appears that, in the criticisms which have
been made on our application, it has been assumed that the
salary of a junior Cadet is necessarily a bachelor salary.
While admitting this in the case of unpassed Cadets we
consider that the salary of a passed Cadet should be
sufficient to enable an officer to marry, as several
of us have done, without the inevitable consequence
of fi"ancial embarrassment. The present salaries we
regard as insufficient even for a bachelor, whose
total salary, we submit, cannot be compared with the sum
to which a senior officer, with wife and children at
home, may restrict himself after meeting all his
commitments.
We invite attention to the facts that, on the
institution of the present salary scheme in 1920 the then
most junior Cadets, Messrs. Carrie and Ainsworth went on to
£500 per annum, that the war cadets have received salary
concessions, and that we alone have experienced the
working of the scheme in respect of one's early years as
a passed cadet.
In this connection we would refer to Sir R. E.
Stubb's statement, made in 1920 that the expenses of
junior passed cadets are much heavier than those of
unpassed cadets.
Continued. 2
We would further refer to the increased cost of
living since 1926, and to the recent fall in the dollar,
and to the fact that by the scheme of remittances
privilege, devised to meet the consequences of that fall
we have been ipso facto passed over. We would further
point out that the amendment to the rent rules if
approved, while of great benefit to the same senior
officers as are benefited by the remittance privilege,
will only slightly alleviate the financial condition of
those of us who are bachelors and will not at all affect
those who are married and live in Government quarters.
3. We would again refer to the insufficiency of
our salary in comparison with the initial salaries in
other departments. The question of age has been raised
in this connection. Our age is confined within the limits
of 22 and 24 years at the time of our entrance examination.
Our average age on appointment is 24 and our average age
on becoming passed cadets 26. There is nothing whatsoever
to prevent the average age of entrants to the Medical,
Public Works Department and Education Departments from
being less than 26. While we have definitely chosen a
career in the Civil Service, and passed an exacting
qualifying examination, some of the entrants to other
departments only adopt governant service after finding
presumably, no prospect of success or advancement for
themselves in private practice or previous employment.
In spite of this the age of passed cadets
is in no wise less than that of the entrants to other
Departments. We invite reference to the tables attached.
The incidence of the war affects some cases in all
departments so that the age of ex-war officers should
more properly be compared to that of the war cadets, one
of whom Mr. Nihill was 29 on arrival in the Colony and
31 on becoming a passed cadet. Yet a passed cadet of 26 with a knowledge of Chinese is paid £60 per annum less
Continued. 3
than an engineer and £200 less than a Medical Officer newly appointed and, it may be, fresh from College.
We have been informed that no comparison with India is possible, but we venture again to refer to the fact that members of the senior Indian Civil Service are
paid better, age for age, seniority for seniority, than members of any other department in India, the medical
included, and that we who pass the same entrance
examination as these Indian Officers and who in some
cases chose Hong Kong in preference to India, find
ourselves paid less during our early years than officers
of all other departments.
account.
5. It has further been objected with reference to
our comparison of our salaries with the salaries in other
Colonies that question of climate, exchange compensation,
loneliness of station etc. have to be taken into
comimukin reply we would refer to the fact that all such
considerations appear to have been ignored in the case of transferred officers whose sterling salary in this Colony
has been raised so that they should not suffer even
nominal loss in comparison with their sterling salary in
the previous Colony.
Further we would point out that Hong Kong alone of
the grouped Colanies suffers in respect of salary during
leave, as we lose the privilege rate, Also the distance
from England is greater.
We understand that the Cadets in Malaya who learn
Chinese with us found that, owing to the system of acting
appointments which obtains in Malaya, by accepting salary
at Hong Kong rates during their two years in China, which
commence after they have served 6 months in Malaya, they
suffered to such an extent in comparison with other cadet
officers that special concessions have been made whereby
on their return to Malaya they automatically start a grade
higher than the normal, and receive salary of 8550 Straits
Currency a month instead of $400 Hong Kong currency in the
Continued, 4
case of Hong Kong Cadets.
6. We invite reference to the fact that only two cadets have been appointed from home this year in place
of 3 indented for, and we would again point out that
unless the prospects of junior cadets are improved it
will be difficult if not impossible to recruit suitable
officers.
7. We suggest that the scale for unpassed cadets
should be £350 - £375 by £25, and for passed cadets £450
to £1200 by ❀ annual increments of £25 and 14 of £50.
Tables showing the average age on entrance to
Medical and Education Departments are attached.
(Signed)
H. R. Butters.
T. Megarry.
A. W. G. H. Grantham.
J. S. McLaren.
E. H. Williams.
31/12/26.
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Position
Age on joining
A. Anderson
Deputy Port Engineer
* J. Angwin
R. Baker
C. W. E. Bishop
Land Surveyor
Port Engineer
Land Surveyor
Engineer
J. H. Bottomley
Engine er
* G. S. Brown
Engineer
E. W. Carpenter
Asst. D. P. W.
* E. S. Carter
* R. J. B. Clark
H. T. Creasy
« C. H. Douglas
Engineer
Engineer
Engineer (Ceylon)
Land Surveyor
S. D. Edward
Engineer
* G. E. Falkner
Engineer
S. C. Feltham
* B. F. Fletcher
H. E. Goldsmith
G. S. Graver
Engineer
Mechanical Engineer
Engineer
Engineer
B. H. C. Hallowes
Land Surveyor
R. M. Henderson
S. 0. Hill
Water Engineer
Engineer
* A. W. Hodges
Engineer
W. J. S. Key
Engineer
C. D. Lambert
Mechanical Engineer
E. B. Lambert
Land Surveyor
E. Larmour
A. E. Lissaman
* R. S. Logan
Land Surveyor
Land Surveyor
Engineer
H. C. Lowick
Surveyor
A. H. McBride
Engineer
E. Newhouse
Engineer
* W. H. Owen
Engineer
* R. S. W. Paterson
Engineer
* H. J. Pearse
Engineer
H. H. Pegg
Engineer
K. B. Purves
E. B. Reed
Position
Age on joining
Engineer
Land Surveyor
L. C. P. Rees
C. B. Robertson
Supt. Crown Lands
Engineer
K. S. Robertson
Engineer
H. S. House
Engineer
- F. R. Shaw
Engineer
* G. D. Shields
Engineer
D. G. Strackan
Engineer
Surveyor
A. G. W. Tickle
Engineer
R. J. Vernall
Engineer
Engineer
Surveyor
P. D. Wilson.
Engineer
, O. C. Womack
Surveyor (Ceylon)
F. W. Wood
Surveyor
A. E. Wright
Engineer
These officers were appointed subsequent to the War.
Average age of others as appointment 25.9 years.
C. W. MoKenny
W. L. Paterson
D. Valentine
J. R. Craig
* J. T. Smalley
* J. P. Fekily
W. B. A. Moore
MEDICAL DEFARTMENT.
Age on first appointment.
27 (Fiji M. Service)
Dr. Paterson was in private practice in Scotland for some
years prior to coming to Hong Kong.
Served in other Colonies before coming to Hong Kong. Average
of others 26.
N.B. Most medical students complete theft studies at the
age of 24.
There is nothing to prevent any newly qualified Doctor
of that age being appointed to the Hong Kong Medical Service.
A. 0. Brawn
A. H. Crook
* M. Evans
A. T. Hamilton
D. Morris
C. Mycock
E. Ralphs
J. Ralston
* G. W. Reeve
'D. M. Richards
F. J. De Rome
A. R. Sutherland
G. E. S. Upsdell
A. White
Education Department
Age on first appointment.
Appointed subsequent to Great War.
Average age (ex-service men excluded) 28.
Students in the Faculty of Arts at any university
generally complete their studies at the age of 23-24. It is
not improbable that many of the officers whose names are
enumerated above held appointments at home prior to coming
to Hong Kong.
ENCLOSURE 3.
Date of Increment Present Sal-
H.R.Butters
G.S.Kennedy Skipton 31.8.98
T. Megarry
19.12.26
A.X.G.H. Grantham
19.12.26
J.S.McLaren
18.12.26
E.H.Williams
16.8.99 27
18.12.26
R.R.Todd
Date of passing
final examina-
B.C.K.Hawkins
tion in Chinese
Heath Mansions,
Putney Heath Lane.
18th December, 1926.
Dear Beckett,
You have asked me to put in writing my views
with regard to the Hong Kong exchange compensation proposals,
which we recently discussed.
The question is one on which there is much
divergence of opinion, and the present suggestion that
officers having family obligations in England should be
turned given preferential treatment, is not a new one. It has been
down hitherto, mainly I think, on the following grounds.
It is hardly desirable to give a monetary inducement to an
officer to live apart from his wife: the cost of maintaining
a family in England is by no means necessarily greater than
the cost of maintainig that family in Hong Kong: It is not
advisable to differentiate between a married and an unmarried
officer as regards personal salary as distinct from such
emoluments as passages and housing.
To take the first point. It is probably true
that most women find life in England more attractive in the
long run than life in Hong Kong, and it would seem to be
unwise to encourage wives by means of a cash payment to go
home and leave their husbands. I refer more particularly to
officers of the status of Police, Sanitary Inspectors,
Overseers, and so on, who are undoubtedly more efficient
and better behaved if they have British born wives living
with them in the Colony. This view at any rate was strongly
held by Sir Henry May and others. You will find on record
an actual experiment in exchange compensation on the lines
now proposed, made some thirty to forty years ago, a
consequence of which was that the late Mr.Eyer Ball could
never afford to leave Asia, nor could his wife ever enter
that continent.
As regards the scond point; it is doubtful
whether the average man's expenses are in any way increased
by reason of the fact that his wife and family are in
England. A man by himself can live quite cheaply in Hong
Kong, especially if he joins a Mess; and his family at home
will not infrequently get some assistance from relatives.
The cost of housekeeping with a family in Hong Kong is very
heavy, and you will no doubt remember that it was for this
reason that a house allowance was given to an officer who
rented a house, but was refused to him if he lived in a hotel
or boarding house. Certain officers of course spend large
sums on the education of their children in England, but this
does not apply to the large class of subordinate European,
officers for whose children excellent schools are provided
in the Colony.
The argument, that marriage is not a ground for
preferential treatment in respect of personal salary, was
first advanced to Hong Kong by the Colonial office, and so it
is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon it; especially as
84 of the Hong Kong despatch takes the point that a wife
is not necessarily an officer's only serious liability. But
is there any precedent for the proposal in that paragraph,
that the Governor shall in his personal discretion decide which
sterling commitments of what officers are to be recognised by
a subsidy? Such interference in an officer's private affairs
would hardly be popular in the service.
I am doubtful about the argument in §6 of the
despatch, which suggests that the increase in prices brought
about by a fall in exchange is confined to imports from
sterling countries. Hong Kong currency is on a silver basis,
and I think that past experience shows that a decrease in
the market value of silver means an increase in the cost of
all commodities, and a general rise in the cost of living as
expressed in terms of dollars.
The sliding scale, which was adopted in 1920,
has been remarkably successful, and I venture to suggest that
it should now be adopted to meet the fall of the dollar below
the original limit of 2/6d. This is the logical course, and
it has the merit that it benefits all equally without
discrimination. It is true that officers, who at the present
time have their families in England, will not for the time
being receive as much as they would get under the scheme
proposed by the Hong Kong Government, but the average officer,
whose wife lives sometimes in England and sometimes in Hong Kong
will prefer the permanent benefit of the sliding scale to the
temporary remittance privilege.
Yours sincerely,
(Sa) A.G.M.Fletcher.
I return the copies of the despatch and telegram
which you lent me.