PART XI
MISCELLANEOUS
75. The Registrar General was by an Order of the Full Court dated 19th December, 1957, in Appeal No. 3 of 1957, appointed Judicial Trustee of the estate of one WONG Yuk Shu deceased. The sum of $7,500 has been received as security for the Judicial Trustee's costs.
76. The Registrar General continued during the year to serve as a member of the Law Reform Committee, which was set up to examine and consider legislation enacted in the United Kingdom and to make recommendations, in the light of local circumstances, for the reform of the laws of the Colony.
77. Table XXII shows the total revenue of the Department for 1957/58, amounting to $1,695,064.15, as against a total expenditure of $1,135,847.47. These figures include for the first time the revenue ($194,319.72) and expenditure of the Births and Deaths Registry, and therefore cannot be directly compared with the previous year's totals of $1,500,047 and $712,619 respectively.
78. The photostat copying machine installed at the beginning of 1957 has completed its first full year of operation. During the year 3,990 photostat copies were produced, about 79% of them for members of the public on payment, the remaining 21% being for Government Departments. The photostats supplied to the public were of records kept by the various branches of the Department, and the fees received for the service totalling $13,817.85 are included in the figures for the fees of the branches supplying the copies. Besides effecting a great saving in copying time the machine by producing exact copies eliminates the need for detailed checking and so saves the time of the Assistant Registrars when they have to certify copies. During the year it was found necessary to air-condition the photostat room.
79. Mr. W. K. Thomson, Deputy Registrar General, was on leave from 3rd June to 22nd December, 1957, during which period Mr. C. M. Stevens, Legal Assistant, acted as Deputy Registrar General. Mr. Stevens himself proceeded on leave on 11th February, 1958. Mr. Walter Hume, M.A., LL.B., a Scots solicitor, joined the Department on 20th February.
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