Hongkong, uly 9.
Alter having suffered salary. culs for a period of eighteen months, Hongkong civil servants are now en-Joying full restoration of the levy. The original cause of the deduction, which was on a variable percentage basis, according to the scale of salary enjoyed, was the slump in the sterling Value of the dollar, which meant a tremendous Increase in the vole for emoluments, due to the fact that officers recruited from Home are pad a sterling basis. Begun on January 1, 1936, the levy was, by reason of the ananelal position, of the Colony, continued on a modified form for the first six months of year, this step being reluctantly approved by the Secretary of State, The ancial. position has, however, now so greatly improved (revenue for the frst halt of the your showing an increase of over $1,800,000 compared with the same Period last year) that. it. was deemed possible to remove the levy altogether.as from July The Colonial Treasurer, in moving abolition of the levy at a meeting of the Legislative Council, said its cantinuance was felt to be a hindrance to the recruitment of new officers and a bad advertisement of the Colony's financial standing. There was no opposition to the motion—a circumstance which thas occasioned some surprise, One journal, indeed, spoke of the "almost indecent hast and silence" with which the rosel tion was carried through, and referred to the fact that no! mention was made by the Government spokes-as the redue-allowances which many civil servants enjoy, or of the greater substitution of dollar-pald for sterling-pald emeers which the ppublje had been led to believe would put into fore.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.