292
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
co-ordinates the work of the local forces, described in Chapter 17, and acts as the main channel of communication between Government and Her Majesty's Armed Forces stationed in the Colony. The Secretariat includes a Political Adviser, seconded from the Foreign Office.
The Government's principal legal adviser is the Attorney General, who is the head of the Legal Department and also responsible for drafting legislation, and for instituting and conducting public prosecutions. Members of the Department include the Solicitor General and a number of Crown Counsel.
The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's prin- cipal adviser on all matters connected with the Chinese population. His department, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, provides facilities for the settlement of disputes and family cases, administers Chinese temples, maintains a District Watch Force, registers all newspapers and publica- tions, runs two tenancy inquiry bureaux, advises on deporta- tions and performs important functions connected with the protection of women and children. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is president of the board of direction of the Po Leung Kuk, chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Advisory Board, and supervises the administration of large public charities. He is chairman of committees dealing with Chinese perma- nent cemeteries, recreation grounds and many other matters concerning Chinese life. He is also the statutory guardian of all adopted daughters in the Colony, other than those adopted under the Adoption Ordinance, 1956. The Social Welfare Office, a Department closely associated with the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, is described in the Social Welfare Chapter.
Under the Financial Secretary, the accounting operations of the Government are managed and supervised by the Accountant General, who is in charge of the Treasury. All public accounts, whether of general revenue and expenditure, or of special funds or departmental accounts, are subject to