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15. Paragraph 14 admits that "there may possibly be some difference of opinion in the Colony on the question of official salaries." It would be more correct and explicit to state that the motion for the reduction of the salaries in question has found no support in the Colony outside the Council. It proceeds to state that "there is no division of opinion as to the necessity for a reduction in the cost of administration, and for economising generally by the amalgamation of certain offices." In this opinion, as Your Lordship is already aware, I concur. And finally, it asserts that there is a similar consensus of opinion as to the necessity "for a reformation in the constitution of the Legislative Council, and as to the uselessness in the Council as at present constituted of the presence of an Unofficial element which is habitually over-ruled by the Official vote.” The question of the constitution of the Legislative Council is a very large question, and I do not pro- pose at present to discuss it; but I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of testifying that I have, during the short time that I have been here, frequently derived advantage and benefit from the presence of the Unofficial element in the Council, and of expressing the hope that I may frequently derive similar advantage and benefit in the future.
16. Paragraph 15 asks Your Lordship's special reference "to the proceedings in the Council as reported in the Hongkong Daily Press of 8th and 22nd December ultimo and posted herewith." No copies have been received with the Memorial; and the issues of 8th and 22nd ultimo of the Hongkong Daily Press contain no report of any proceedings in Council, nor is any report of any proceed- ings in Council contained in the issue of December 22nd, 1891; in that of 8th December, 1891, there is a report of the proceedings (since published in "Hansard") in Council on the 7th of that month. If the papers which are said to have been posted to Your Lordship's address contain anything calling for comment by me, shall be obliged if Your Lordship will be so good as to draw my attention thereto.
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17. In paragraph 16 the Memorialists ask for the appointment of a Retrench- ment Commission "consisting of the members of the community unconnected with Government, or at least of a majority of such persons. I see no reason to alter my conviction that the appointment of such a Commission is unnecessary and undesirable, and I am for many reasons, which it is needless here to detail, of opinion that if it were necessary to appoint a Commission, it should consist of per- sons unconnected with the Colony.
18. The concluding paragraph of the Memorial desires Your Lordship to reply "direct to the Unofficial Members or to their doyen." The reason given for this request is as remarkable as the request itself is unusual. It is stated that "We had occasion within the last year or two to address several letters to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and have received neither ac- knowledgment nor reply. It was only in answer to questions in Council that we learned that there had been any communication at all on the subject of our letters." Since I arrived in the Colony the Unofficial Members have addressed no letter, previous to the present Memorial, to the Secretary of State through me. In 1891
I find that they addressed three memorials to the Secretary of State, viz.: (1) on the subject of the Military Contribution-the Secretary of State's reply was duly laid on the table of the Council; (2) on the subject of the increases of Salaries the Secretary of State's reply was duly sent to the Senior Unofficial Member, the late Mr. RYRIE; and (3) on the subject of the Sunday Cargo Bill-the Secretary of State's reply was duly sent to Mr. RYRIE. I am not in a position to say what Mr. RYRIE did with the replies.
19. Having now dealt seriatim with every allegation and contention contained in the Memorial, I may briefly state my conclusion on the whole matter. I con- sider that it has been conclusively shewn by the Colonial Secretary that while a certain number of persons have lost heavily by gambling in recent years, the com- munity taken as a whole has progressed, and that it is bound to continue to pro- gress; that the financial position of the Colony is satisfactory; that a loan for the public works extraordinary is immediately necessary, and that the fact of this necessity does not in any way controvert the soundness of the financial position; that no case whatever has been made out in support of the motion for the imme- diate reduction of certain salaries, and that it is to be regretted that the motion was made; that there is evidence in the Memorial, as well as elsewhere, that the reasons urged in the Finance Committee and the Council in support of the motion were not the sole or the mainly operative reasons for the motion being made; and lastly,