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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
defence, co-ordinates the work of the local forces, described in Chapter 17, and acts as the main channel of communica- tion between the 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 is also responsible for drafting legislation and for instituting and conducting public prosecutions. Members of the Depart- ment include the Solicitor General, three Senior Crown Counsel and eleven Crown Counsel
The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's principal 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, maintains the District Watch Force, registers all newspapers and books, runs Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux in Hong Kong and Kowloon, and advises on deportations. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, President of the Permanent Board of Direction of the Po Leung Kuk, and supervises the administration of certain other large public charities. To assist in this work the holder of the post has since 1928 been a corporation sole. He is also Chairman of committees dealing with Chinese Per- manent Cemeteries, Temples and Recreation Grounds. He is the statutory guardian of all adopted daughters in Hong Kong, other than those adopted under the Adoption Ordin- ance, 1956. The Social Welfare Office, which is separately described in Chapter 11, is part of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, and, in addition to many other activities, carries out important functions in connexion with the protection of women and children on behalf of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. From 1st January, 1958, the Social Welfare Officer, renamed Director of Social Welfare, will become head of an independent Social Welfare Department, taking with him