1126
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
Draft Bill.
No. S. 447.-The following bill is published for general information :-
No. 35-17.11.33.-8.]
A BILL
INTITULED
An Ordinance to amend further the Telephone Ordinance,
1925.
BE it enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Telephone Amend- Short title. ment Ordinance, 1933.
for Ordin-
2. Sub-section (3) of section 35 of the Telephone Ordin- Substitution ance, 1925, is repealed and the following sub-section is sub- stituted therefor :-
(3) The Company shall be entitled to make annual appro- priations to Reserve: Commencing with the year 1934 no -such annual appropriation shall exceed the sum of one hundred and seventy thousand four hundred and eighty two dollars. The Company shall (save that it cannot capitalise the same without the previous consent of the Legislative Council) have the power to deal with the Reserve in such manner as it shall think fit.
3. Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or be deemed to affect the rights of His Majesty the King, His Heirs or Successors, or of any bodies politic or corporate, or other persons except such as are mentioned in this Ordinance and those claiming by, from or under them.
ance No. 9 of 1925, s. 35 (3).
4. This Ordinance shall come into force on the first day Commence- of January, 1934.
Objects and Reasons.
1. Under section 35 (3) of the principal Ordinance the Company was entitled to appropriate annually to Reserve a sum not exceeding fifty thousand dollars.
2. The Legislative Council has recently consented, under section 6 (1) of the principal Ordinance, to the increase of the capital of the Company to $7,500,000.
3. The annual appropriations, including that for the year 1933 will amount to $425,000. This sum with annual addi- tions of $50,000 is inadequate to amortise the capital over the period of the Company's franchise which, under section 3 of the principal Ordinance, is for a period of 50 years from the 1st July 1925.
4. The sub-section of section 35 of the principal Ordin- ance substituted by section 2 of this amending Ordinance will permit annual appropriations to reserve of sums not exceeding $170,482, which is considered reasonable.
5. Section 3 of this amending Ordinance is the usual saving section required by Article XXVII of the Royal In- structions.
October, 1933.
C. G. ALABASTER,
Attorney General.
ment.