THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 7тH DECEMBER, 1895.
1231
Enclosure 2.
(Acting Colonial Treasurer to the Governor.)
Name.
Assessed Taxes, ....
Billiard Tables and Bowling Alleys Licences,
Carriage, Chair, &c., Licences,
Dog Licences,
Hawkers' Licences,
Marine Store Dealers' Licences,
Money Changers' Licences, Pawnbrokers' Licences,
Spirit Licences,
Registration of Householders,
Laundries,
Slaughter House.............
Markets,
Cattle Sheds,
Sheep and Pig Depôts,
Night Soil Contract,
Water Account,
Total,.......
(Secretary of State to the Governor.)
Amount. .$370,000
1,100
40,000
2,500
5,200
900
540
39,000
67,500
1,200
330
40,000
62,000
2,580
12,000
23,280
{
60,000
16,000
$744,130
HONGKONG.
No. 258.
DOWNING STREET,
26th October, 1895.
SIR,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 267 of 28th August last, regarding the military contribution of the Colony, and the cost of construction of the new Barracks.
2. With reference to the inclusion in the Hongkong revenue of certain receipts which are of a municipal character, and are not included in the general Revenue of the Straits Settlements, because municipalities exist in that Colony, I have in the first place to point out to you that the municipal revenues at the Straits Settlements are only about 20% of the gross revenues (general and muni- cipal), and that for the sake of comparison between the two Colonies I could not regard as "municipal" several of the items specified in the second enclosure to your despatch under acknowledgment which altogether amount to over 30% of the Revenue. For instance, Pawnbrokers' Licences and Spirit Licences form part of the general, not the municipal revenue, in the Straits Settlements. In that Colony also the municipalities contribute about $72,000 to the General Revenue for Police purposes, while the municipal work in the outlying districts is performed by the Colonial Government, which receives for that purpose $87,000 under the head "District Collections."
3. Further, the cases of Hongkong and the Straits Settlements cannot be regarded in this matter as on the same footing, since although there are separate municipal revenues in the latter Colony, on the other hand the expenses of general administration are proportionately greater than in Hongkong, partly owing to the larger area of the Colony, which is more than fifty times as large as Hongkong, while the gross revenues (including municipal receipts) are less than three times those of Hongkong, and partly to the distance of the several Settlements from each other, requiring in some branches of the Government service the maintenance of a double or triple staff of officers as compared with the staff required in the compact Colony of Hongkong.