PRESENT:―
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 261
28TH DECEMBER, 1911.
a full statement, but I have thought it better to
appoint a Commission to inquire into the
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, SIR FREDERICK J. DEALTRY LUGARD, G.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.
HON. MR. C. CLEMENTI (Colonial Secretary).
HON. MR. C. G. ALABASTER (Attorney General).
HON. MR. A. M. THOMSON (Colonial Treasurer).
HON. MR. W. CHATHAM, C.M.G. (Director of Public Works.
HON. MR. E. R. HALLIFAX (Registrar General).
HON. CAPTAIN F. J. BADELEY (Captain Superintendent of Police).
HON. DR. HO KAI, M.B., C.M.G.
HON. MR. WEI YUK, C.M.G.
HON. MR. H. E. POLLOCK, K.C.
HON. MR. E. A. HEWETT.
HON. MR. C. H. ROSS.
HON. MR. E. OSBORNE.
MR. R. H. CROFTON (Clerk of Councils). Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved,
The Post Office and Law Courts―A Commission Appointed.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table Financial Minutes Nos. 111 to 116 and moved that they be referred to the Finance Committee.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL seconded.
HIS EXCELLENCY―Gentlemen, Financial Minutes Nos. 112 and 116 are for large sums in respect of the Government Offices and the Law Courts. The Hon. Colonial Secretary in Finance Committee will explain to you in full the items covered by these votes, and I had at first intended to have laid before this meeting
whole circumstances of the various supplementary votes which have been asked since the inception of these two undertakings. Of that Commission the Colonial Treasurer is Chairman, and by kind permission of the General Officer Commanding, Colonel St. John will be a member. The Hon. Mr. Ross and Mr. Murray Stewart have consented to be members of the Commission, which will sit as soon as possible. The Chairman of the Finance Committee will give you any immediate details which you may desire, and, as I said in my minute which was read at the last meeting of the Finance Committee, the Hon. Director of Public Works has assured me that the money is being paid direct to those who have earned it and for work actually done. It must be paid before the end of this financial year, and therefore I recommend the Council to pass these two votes and defer any criticism which may arise until we have the report of the Commission, which will sit in the early part of next year.
The motion was agreed to.
Financial.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table the report of the Finance Committee (No. 23), and moved its adoption.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Badge of The Colony.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY―Sir, I beg to move that the Council resume consideration of the resolution which I had the honour to move at the last meeting. I would further suggest the following amendment, namely, that the words, "On a date to be hereafter notified in the Government Gazette," be added at the end of the resolution. Some little time must elapse before the new design can be reproduced on the seal and the flags of the Colony. The resolution therefore cannot take effect on the date on which it is adopted.
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HON. MR. ROSS―I regret to say that I am unable to support this resolution. I do not think this proposed badge or flag is artistic or that it has any meaning to the ordinary person at all. I do not think there are ten Europeans in the Colony who could tell you what those characters mean. They are seal characters, known by very few people, and the badge merely appears to be a kind of maze. If Chinese characters are required at all, I suggest that the ordinary Chinese characters should be substituted in place of the seal characters. These are very difficult things to put on a flag, as there are so many different lines. In any case, the badge is not at all artistic. The design which appears on the back of the Hongkong and Shanghai bank notes is more artistic and more representative of the combination between England and China. The picture which the Colonial Secretary presented at the last meeting of the Council and which he criticised somewhat severely does not seem to me to be deserving of such criticism. It represents a Chinese merchant and a foreign merchant bargaining. The foreign merchant is certainly not shaking hands with his left hand. It is an old custom of bargaining, giving the left hand to the Chinaman. They would bargain with the left hand, the Chinaman working his fingers until they arrived at the price at which the produce was to be settled. The hills in the background certainly can do with improvement, and in that feature I would suggest that we should copy the Hongkong bank note design. I regret very much that owing to Volunteer duties I have been absent for five or six days, and I have not been able to prepare a sketch. I think that if we had a Peak, a pagoda, a junk and the Imperial crown above it, it would be a far more attractive design than that at present proposed.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―I am inclined to agree with the criticisms passed by the honourable member on my left. Surely it would not be beyond the powers of some artist in this Colony to sketch out a suitable design, showing the Peak, the waters of the harbour and a junk. We should have something emblematic of this Colony. I do not think I can agree with my colleague as to the pagoda, as in the first place I don't think we have any pagodas in the Colony. Some design following the Hongkong bank note could be worked up without any difficulty, and would be in all
ways a suitable design. I think it is a great drawback to adopt anything as forming part of the device of this Colony that is a sealed book to not only foreigners but also to the great bulk of the Chinese population
HON. MR. OSBORNE―I have asked one or two Chinese if they knew what these characters represented, and they told me they did not. I do not think any Chinese character at all should appear on the British flag. (Hear, hear.) Even if you put ordinary written characters, such as Mr. Ross suggested, it would appear just as ridiculous in the eyes of the Chinese as Roman characters would appear in the eyes of the foreigners, that is to say, if you had under the British crown the word "Hongkong" I think we are agreed that it would appear ridiculous. It would appear equally ridiculous to the Chinese to have the same word in Chinese characters.
HIS EXCELLENCY―I will move as an amendment to the motion now before the Council that the on this resolution be adjourned. From the speeches of the three unofficial members who have spoken in opposition to the badge which has been proposed, I gather that some amendment to the existing badge may be desirable. It is a matter for discussion and there is no reason whatever for haste in disposing of the question. Therefore I propose we should hold over any positive or negative answer to the resolution for the present and see whether any artistic gentlemen in the Colony can produce some design that would meet with more general favour.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Questions.
THE HON. MR. POLLOCK asked the following questions in his name:
1. What is the nature of the works which are in contemplation in the Hill District near the junction of the Chamberlain and Pokfulam Roads?
2. For what reason are such works being undertaken?
3. Has the question of the desirability of undertaking such works been laid before the Public Works Committee? If not, why not?
4. What is the estimated cost of such works?
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 263
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS replied as follows:
1. The work referred to consists of a diversion of Chamberlain and Pokfulam Roads.
2. The work has been undertaken in fulfilment of an arrangement made by Sir M. Nathan with the lessee of the Peak Hotel property in May, 1907, whereby the latter agreed to surrender to Government the necessary land to enable the new road now being constructed from Victoria Gap to Plantation Road to be connected with Chamberlain Road, the Government giving in exchange the area which will be rendered available by the diversion already mentioned. The immediate inception of the new road has been urged upon the Government by the hon. member himself, who submitted a petition signed by 41 residents in the neighbourhood.
3. The alignment of the new road was referred to the Public Works Committee on September 28th, but the consequent diversion of Chamberlain and Pokfulam Roads resulted from the arrangement made in 1907.
4. The estimated cost of the diversion in question is $2,750.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―I do not think the Hon. Director of Public Works has fully answered my question.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ― The gentleman is not in order in view of Standing Order No. 22.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―I am in order. I want to ask this question, and I want an answer. I have got a right as a matter of order to have the third question answered. That question has not been answered. I want to ask why this work was not referred to the Public Works Committee. The only answer I have got is that another road which would have certain results was referred to the Public Works Committee. It has not been explained why this road has not been referred. If it was part of that scheme it should have been referred to the Committee. It was not referred to the Public Works Committee.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS―Sir,
my instructions are that matters can only be laid before the Public Works Committee by permission of your Excellency. My instructions in this matter did not extend to the question of the diversion of these roads in order to effect the necessary exchange with the lessee of the Peak Hotel property. I regret, Sir, if there has been any appearance of attempting to suppress information with regard to the matter. It was far from my intention to do so.
HIS EXCELLENCY―I can only add to what the Hon. Director of Public Works has said that the Public Works Committee is a Committee of this Council, and any reference to that Committee is made by the Council and not outside the Council. It has not been the custom that minor works or works which are not very important should be referred to that Committee. Hitherto it has been the custom only to ask the opinion of the Public Works Committee on any work of magnitude or concerning which there was some controversial point to decide. The reference in question not having been made by this Council was an informal one. Whether that is the best possible procedure is open perhaps to question. In this particular case, as the work was practically part and parcel of a work which had been referred to the Public Works Committee, I did not consider it was necessary to call their attention to this special portion of it. I was indeed under the impression myself that the work in all its details had been discussed by the Public Works Committee.
Public Health and Building Ordinance Amendment Ordinance, 1911.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS proposed that the Council go unto Committee on the Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Ordinance relating to Public Health and Buildings." In doing so he said―I propose to move in Committee, with a view to overcoming the objections raised by the Hon. Mr. Pollock, certain amendments in section 5. I propose to move that in the new sub-section 5 the following words be added, "but in the case of a building on land abutting upon a street the Building Authority shall have no power to require such building to be of a less height than that specified in such of the foregoing sub-sections
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as would apply if such building had been so arranged as to abut upon such street." That, Sir, limits the power of the Building Authority to being in a position merely to authorise a greater height than if the building actually abutted upon the street. As I said at our previous meeting, I am not in favour of permitting a man, merely because he chooses to set back his building to a small extent from the building line, to gain any advantage by being able to increase the height of the building by one and a half times the amount by which he sets it back. In regard to the measuring of the height of buildings I propose to move the addition of a proviso (c) to the effect that, "in no case shall the height of a building or of any portion of it be regulated by any scavenging lane or by any lane or open space upon which such building may abut if such lane or open space is not used or intended to be used as a means of access to a domestic building other than servants' quarters." At the present time the height of a building is not regulated by any scavenging lane; it was not intended that any alteration should be made in that respect. This specifies clearly that in any case the width of a scavenging lane can not be applied in determining the height of a building. There are several minor amendments in section 7 which will also be moved when we come to deal with that section, the proposal being to retain the word "report" as to the completion of the building in accordance with the requirements of the Ordinance, and to enable the Building Authority merely to issue a certificate or authority that the building may be occupied.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL seconded.
HIS EXCELLENCY ― Before putting the motion to the Council I desire to inform you that the Government had no intention whatever of introducing a controversial Bill at this time without reference to the architects and others concerned. The hon. and learned member (Mr. Pollock) in the long speech which he made at the last meeting of the Council showed us that a number of the proposed amendments would be very controversial. I therefore asked the D.P.W. to consult with the architects and others concerned informally, before we should meet to-day, and to with them such amendments as would meet with general approval. If any of these should prove
controversial I prefer to abandon them. We are, as you know, engaged on a Revision of the Laws which is up to and for the 31st December this year, and it is important to include as many amendments as possible in the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, the type of which has been reserved for that purpose.
The motion was agreed to and Council then went into Committee.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY―The letter from the Secretary to the Sanitary Board which I referred to in my remarks at the last meeting of Council was dated the 20th inst. and stated, "that at a meeting of the Board held on the 19th inst. the Draft Bill entitled, 'An Ordinance to amend the Ordinance relating to Public Health and Buildings,' was laid before the members, and it was agreed that the Bill as drafted met the wishes of the Board." Since then I have received the following minute, dated the 23rd inst. from the Head of the Sanitary Dept. "I said at the Board meeting that the Sanitary Department was not concerned with the building clauses and so they were not discussed. We really confined our discussion to clause 2. I think, therefore, that I should have said that the Board as a whole had no suggestions or amendments to offer rather than that the draft Bill met their wishes."
HON. DR. HO KAI―As far as sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 are concerned, we are all agreed upon them. Regarding clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 the unofficial members are unanimous that they contain matters of contention, and most of us would like to have time to receive communications from those interested, especially architects or property owners. Generally, we are of the opinion that these sections confer too much absolute power on the Building Authority, and they should be amended in such a way as to safeguard the rights of property owners and also to protect the interests of authorised architects. The principle involved in clauses 6 and 7 is most contentious, and most of us are strongly of the opinion that they should not be proceeded with. There is no reason why the Bill should be hurried through except the first two sections. The other clauses should be deleted from the Bill, and if necessary the Government can bring in a fresh Bill to deal with these few
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 265
points. I move that clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 be deleted from the Bill.
HON. MR. POLLOCK ― The unofficial members are unanimously of opinion that these clauses should be dropped now at all events. I understand your Excellency is willing to yield to the wishes of the unofficial members in the matter. Therefore, I do not propose to address the Council.
HIS EXCELLENCY―Do I understand my hon. and learned friend is to second the motion?
HON. MR. POLLOCK―Yes.
HIS EXCELLENCY―The Government is willing to drop any clauses which are highly contentious.
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL―Sir clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 as they stand in the print before members are certainly highly contentious, otherwise there would not have been expended on them that stream of rhetoric and ink which we have heard in this chamber and seen in the Press during the last week or so. Therefore if they are to be looked at as they appear in the print, under your Excellency's ruling they must of course go. But, Sir, I think that if I explained in greater detail the effect of certain amendments which the Hon. Director of Public Works has outlined in his speech to-day it will be seen that clauses 5 and 6 and the first half of clause 7 will cease to be controversial. And, therefore, after going into these details I would suggest as an amendment to the motion that, instead of putting the question of the deletion of these clauses en bloc, that the question should be put as to each clause separately. Clauses 5 and 6 regulate the height of buildings and the methods of determining them. Under the existing sections 188 and 189 of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, the height of every building is regulated, but by a curious error on the part of the draftsman no provision is made for determining or measuring that height unless the building actually abuts on a street. It would therefore seem that a building owner by setting his house a little back from the street would be able to evade regulations which this Council in passing the principal Ordinance obviously intended to apply to him. I use the word "seem" advisedly, because I have naturally no
desire to make any admission on which such building owners could fasten. I think, therefore, that it cannot be a matter of serious controversy, in this Council, that the sections should be so amended as to make it clear beyound all doubt that they apply equally to houses which do and to those which do not abut on streets. That was the intention of the Government in introducing clauses 5 and 6 of the Bill. Under the present law the height of buildings abutting on streets is regulated by the width of those streets, and it was the intention in the Bill to make the same provisions apply in the case of buildings which do not actually abut on a street, but as it was possible to imagine cases in which such a regulation would work considerable hardship it was thought better to leave the exact method of regulating the height of such buildings to the Building Authority. With one voice the hon. unofficial members have opposed this, but, so far as I have been able to gather, their opposition has been based solely on the contention that it is undesirable that anyone should be given arbitrary powers which were capable of being used, although no one would imagine that they would be so used, against the first rights of building owners. I venture to think, Sir, that this opposition will be met by the amendment which the hon. Director of Public Works has said he will move. The amendment will prevent the Building Authority from regulating the height of any building not abutting on a street so as to make it lower than it would have been had it abutted on the street, while it reserves in him the power to allow it to be made higher if a just case for a higher building is made out. In one other connection the hon. unofficial members expressed dissatisfaction of the terms of the clauses 5 and 6. They pointed out that as the clauses stood it was possible, though very unfair, to regulate the height of a house by the width of a scavenging lane which might happen to lie behind it. I will not trespass on the time of the Council by discussing whether or not a scavenging lane is or is not a street. With respect, I agree that the height of buildings should not be regulated by such lanes. In practice they never are and the academic criticism applies first as much to the principal Ordinance which this Bill seeks to amend as to the Bill itself. However, the hon. Director
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of Public Works is prepared with an amendment expressly excluding such lanes from calculations as to height. I would therefore submit that with these two amendments to clauses 5 and 6 the basis of the opposition vanishes so far as those two clauses are concerned. Indeed, with the amendments I submit that the Bill provides the only reasonable method of determining the height of buildings which do not actually abut on the building line of a street. An alternative method, I think the only alternative method, would be to add the distance between the building line and the front of the house to the actual width of the street, but such a method would encourage building owners to set back their houses in an irregular manner, so as to get in additional storeys, and would give the streets such an aspect as to make it appear that the crenulated wall of a Chinese City had lain down on its side to rest with its battlements against and its embrasures set back from the building line of the street. With regard to the first part of clause 7 as it stands in the print, it has proved controversial not because it takes away from the Building Authority a duty which with his limited staff he is unable conscientiously to perform, but because it puts that duty upon the authorised architects. The proposed amendment takes the duty away from the Building Authority, but does not put it on anyone else. It is obviously I submit not right that the Building Authority should be compelled to grant a certificate behind which someone else may shelter himself in, for example, a trial for manslaughter, when his staff is not sufficiently large for him to be able in every case to grant the certificate, "that all the requirements of the Ordinance have been complied with." The second part of clause 7 and clause 8 are highly controversial and come within your Excellency's ruling. I would, therefore, move as an amendment to the motion that the question of the deletion of clause 5 be first considered.
HON. MR. POLLOCK ― Is the hon. Attorney-General in order in putting an amendment after your Excellency's ruling?
HON. COLONIAL TREASURER ― Absolutely in order.
HON. DR. HO KAI―The points brought
forward by the Attorney-General have been considered by us. Our desire is that time should be given and all those affected by the new Ordinance should have time to state their objections and their opinions, which should be laid before us for consideration. We are not altogether against some of the proposed clauses, but time is required to consider them. Some of the sections are urgently needed.
HIS EXCELLENCY―I have already said that so long as the unofficial members consider that these clauses are controversial the Government will not insist on passing them. The hon. Attorney-General thought that by explaining what had been done since we last met the objections of the unofficial members would have been removed. Apparently he has failed. I therefore accept the amendment.
Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 having been passed and clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 having been deleted, the Council resumed.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL reported that the Bill had passed through Committee with amendment, and moved that it be read a third time.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
Statute Laws Amendment Ordinance, 1911
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved that the Council go into Committee on the Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Statute Laws (New Revised Edition) Ordinance, 1911."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
On Council resuming,
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL reported that the Bill had passed through Committee with amendment, and moved that it be read a third time.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 267
Suspension of the Standing Orders.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL―I move the suspension of the Standing Orders in order that the next three Bills mentioned in the orders for the day may pass through their various stages and become Ordinances to-day. The reason for this course is that two of them are purely revision Ordinances. They occupy a large proportion of the printers' type and the editor is unable to proceed with the revision until that type is set free. With regard to No. 3 I will explain it in greater detail when we come to deal with it.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Law Revision No. 2 Ordinance, 1911.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Law Revision Ordinance, 1911."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Bill passed its second reading, passed through Committee with one amendment―the deletion of the word "deceased" in the portion of the schedule relating to the Evidence Ordinance, 1889―suggested by the Attorney General, and was read a third time and passed.
Law Amendment No. 2 Ordinance, 1911.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Law Amendment Ordinance, 1911."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Bill subsequently passed through all its stages.
Foreign Offenders' Detention Amendment Ordinance, 1912.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled. "An Ordinance to further amend the Foreign Offenders' Detention Ordinance, 1872." In doing so he
said―It will have the effect of making the Bill general instead of particular. Under the law as it now stands when a foreign offender having committed a crime in China and is being taken back passed through the Colony for either trial or punishment in some other place the Ordinance provides for his detention. In the case of offenders who have committed crimes in such places as the German possessions in the South Sea Islands and are being taken to Europe there is no provision made for their detention here. The Bill will make it general by cutting out the reference to China. The Secretary of State has approved of the Bill, a despatch to that effect having been received yesterday. If the Bill is to be included in the new revision it must be passed through all its stages to-day.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Bill subsequently passed through all its stages.
Mercantile Bank of India Ordinance.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading of the Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to provide for the issue by the Mercantile Bank of India, Limited, of Bills and Notes payable to Bearer on Demand." In doing so he said the Bill was to authorise the Bank to issue five dollar notes and multiples of five dollars.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved that the Council go into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―The Ordinance has no reference to the issue of one dollar notes.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER ― The authorities at Home will not allow notes under five dollars. A mistake was made in allowing the issue of one dollar notes in the first instance.
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THE COLONIAL TREASURER ― Instructions have been received from Home that the Banks are not to issue less than five dollar notes. Correspondence at great length has been written on this subject.
HON. MR. POLLOCK ― It seems inconvenient to limit the issue to five dollar notes.
HIS EXCELLENCY―The terms of this Bill have been agreed to in England by the Secretary of State, and the Directors of the Bank concerned. It would therefore be inadvisable to alter it. The Bank does not ask for notes of a lesser value than five dollars.
HON. MR. HEWETT―It would be as well to have it noted in Hansard that our opinion is that the one dollar note is most convenient and we might have to ask the Secretary of State to alter his decision.
On Council resuming,
HIS EXCELLENCY―The object of reading the Bill a third time is because the Bank is anxious that this Bill should be introduced before the Chinese New Year. As I propose to adjourn the Council after this meeting sine die, it will be for the Council to decide whether they will pass the third reading in deference to the wishes of the banking Company.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved that the Bill be read a third time.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held afterwards, the Colonial Secretary presiding. The following votes were passed:―
Harbour Master's Department.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of One hundred and fifty-one Dollars ($151) in aid of the vote Harbour Master's Department, C. ― Imports and Exports Office, Other Charges, Repairs to Steam Launch.
The Law Courts.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of Thirty-eight thousand two hundred and nineteen Dollars ($38,219) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary, Buildings, Law Courts.
THE CHAIRMAN―This is the matter upon which the Governor addressed the Council this afternoon and upon which he wrote a minute which I read at the last meeting of the Finance Committee. The Director of Public Works will be glad to give any detailed explanations which hon. members may desire.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―Is this for work already done?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― Yes, during the year.
HON. MR. POLLOCK ― I should like to know when the work is going to be finished.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS―It is practically completed.
HON. DR. HO KAI―Will it be completed before Chinese New Year?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS―I think so beyond all doubt.
The vote was passed.
Police Votes.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of One thousand two hundred and thirty-seven Dollars and eight Cents ($1,237.08) in aid of the vote Police and Prison Departments, A. ― Police, Other Charges, for the following items:―
Furniture, .......................................... $ 29.89 Repairs to Launches and Boats,....... 271.24 Secret Service,.................................. 132.76 Small Stores,..................................... 137.91 Transport,.......................................... 665.28
Total, .................... $1,237.08
Kennedy-Town Hospital.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of One thousand seven hundred and sixty-four Dollars ($1,746) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary,
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 269
Chinese Staff Quarters, Kennedy Town Hospital.
A Compensation Claim.
The Governor recommends the Council to vote a sum of Five hundred and sixty-four Dollars ($564) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary, Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, Compensation.
The Post Office.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of Eighty-four thousand five hundred and twenty-nine Dollars ($84,529) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary, Buildings, Post Office.
THE CHAIRMAN―This is another of the votes on which His Excellency addressed the Council this afternoon. Does any hon. member wish for further particulars?
HON. MR. POLLOCK―I should like to have more particulars as to this vote. It seems a large sum to vote so late in the day.
THE CHAIRMAN―It is a vote on account of sums already expended. I have the details here if any hon. gentleman would like to see them. A large number of new items were included, for instance, casing the iron columns of the girders, partition of the postal hall, and so on. These were additions which were made subsequently. Also there was an excess on some estimates.
HON. MR. OSBORNE―Does this represent the total amount of extras?
THE CHAIRMAN ― I understand so. It completes our liabilities in respect of the Post Office.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― There is a claim by a contractor for a large sum. It has not been dealt with yet.
THE CHAIRMAN―It will no doubt be one of the matters into which the Committee appointed by H. E. the Governor will inquire.
HON. MR. POLLOCK―What is the amount of the claim?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― Roughly, $40,000.
The vote was passed.
Council resumed.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY reported that Financial Mtnutes Nos. 111 to 116 had been considered by the Finance Committee and recommended for adoption. He moved that they be adopted.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
HIS EXCELLENCY ― Council will adjourn sine die.