THE HONGKONg government GAZETTE, 5тH DECEMBER, 1896. 1133
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.-No. 463.
The following Report of the Government Offices Committee, which was laid before the Legislative Council on the 3rd instant, is published.
By Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 4th December, 1896.
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, Colonial Secretary.
MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE.
Committee appointed by His Excellency Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON, K.C.M.G., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its dependencies and Vice-Admiral of the same, to report on the condition of the Government Offices and the desirability of locating the various Government departments under one roof.
The Committee as originally appointed on the 8th September, 1894, was as follows:-
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Honourable N. G. MITCHELL-INNES, Colonial Treasurer, Chairman. Honourable C. P. CHATER.
Honourable A. MCCONACHIE.
T. JACKSON, Esq.
W. CHATHAM, Esq., Acting Director of Public Works.
J. G. T. BUCKLE, Esq., Secretary.
On the 10th October the Honourable F. A. COOPER, Director of Public Works, was appointed in place of W. CHATHAM, Esq.
On the 17th August, 1895, the Honourable A. M. THOMSON, Acting Colonial Treasurer, was appointed in place of the Honourable N. G. MITCHELL-INNES, and the Honourable F. A. COOPER was appointed Chairman.
On the 27th February, 1896, Mr. F. J. BADELEY, succeeded Mr. BUCKLE as Secretary.
REPORT.
To His Excellency
Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON, K.C.M.G.,
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
Governor.
We, the Members of the Committee appointed by Your Excellency for the purpose of reporting on the condition of the present Government Offices and the advisability of locating the various Government departments under one roof, have the honour to report as follows.
PROCEEDINGS.
2. The Committee has held seven meetings, at which the general condition of the present Government Offices, their arrangement, and the accommodation both as regards extent and the facility it affords for the transaction of public business, were considered.
3. At an early stage of the proceedings the Committee formed the opinion that a change in the present arrangement of the Government Offices is desirable, but that it is not expedient that it should extend to the present Government Offices at St. John's Place, the Central Police Station, the Magistracy, the Gaol, Queen's College, the Botanical and Afforestation Department, or the Fire Brigade Station.
4 The heads of the various Government departments concerned have been addressed with a view to ascertaining the nature and extent of the accommodation in respect of the following departments, viz., the Supreme Court and Law Offices, the Treasury, the Registrar General's Department, the Public Works Department, the Land Office, the Local Auditor's Department, the Sanitary Department, and the Inspector of Schools.