MEETING OF THE HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, JULY 25.
PRESENT.
His Excellency the Governor.
The Hon. the Acting Chief Justice.
The Acting Colonial Secretary.
The Hon. the Attorney General.
The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer.
The Hon. Mr. Whittall.
The Hon. Mr. Dent.
The Hon. Mr. Gibb.
The new unofficial members, Mr. Gibb and Dent were sworn in by the Governor. The minutes of the last meeting having then been read and confirmed,
His Excellency laid on the table an Ordinance for incorporating the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.
MR. WHITTALL without opposing the motion drew attention to the state of the law in this colony, and Masterman's Bank.
His Excellency then addressed the Council as follows:
The Colony is approaching a new and peculiar phase in its history, and it will require the exercise of much prudence and forethought on the part of this Council to pilot the vessel of the state safely through the difficulties that are gathering round it. One thing at least we can do, viz., ascertain the present exact financial state of the Colony, and though enquiries of that nature lead often to unpleasant surprises, nevertheless a fearless scrutiny of the position is the most effective summons for solving such difficulty.
I propose we undertake that scrutiny, and the more thoroughly to understand the position of the Colony, I invite you to go back a few years and ascertain the proportions borne by the Revenue to the Expenditure.
Taking the six years from 1860 to 1865 we find the following amounts received and expended.
Year REVENUE EXPENDITURE 1860 $245,203 $347,476 1861 $261,610 $526,233 1862 $363,260 $587,634 1863 $576,204 $537,814 1864 $637,814 $626,305 1865 $703,608 $703,608 TOTAL $3,718,550 $3,781,574Thus in six years whilst we find the Revenue steadily increasing till from $131,000 it had risen to upwards of $843,000 or nearly double its amount in 1860, we also find the expenditure increasing as nearly in the same proportion, that at the end of these six years there was only the slight difference of $3,721 in favour of the revenue over expenditure for that period.
It is possible however that some wiser measure may be proposed—and if so, we can discuss the question. I now merely wish to announce that whilst I am obliged to come before you with estimates necessarily exhibiting a large deficit, and a deficit which there is no reasonable hope of soon seeing disappear, I also rely on your providing permanent funds to meet that deficit, in preference to abandoning any expenditure essential to the maintenance of order and safety, and the improvement of the health and general convenience of the Community.
As it is impossible to permit the continuance of an annually increasing deficit we must devise a remedy. This may be done in two ways.
1st by diminishing your Expenditure.
2ndly by increasing your Revenue.
I presume no member of this Council would wish to vote for the abolition of the Mint till it be more clearly ascertained, whether the experiment may not perhaps succeed better, especially when all the subsidiary coinage is produced as the establishment.
The New Ordinances were then introduced one after the other and read a first time.
They were:
1st The Estimate for 1867.
2nd The Harbour and Coast Ordinance.
4th The Registration Ordinance.
5th The Piracy Court Ordinance.
6th The Order and Cleanliness Ordinance.
7th The Vacation of the Supreme Court Ordinance.
With reference to the Ordinance for the establishment of a special Court for the trial of Pirates the Acting Chief Justice said that he was strongly of opinion that the Legislative Council had no power to pass such a measure.
When all the Ordinances had been taken he read a first time the Governor said that as he thought it would be better not to attempt the discussion of such a mass of legislation without due deliberation on its details. He would therefore adjourn the Council for the present without fixing another day for its next meeting and he hoped that in the interval which would elapse, the members would come freely to him and to the Attorney General with the view of asking any questions in connexion with the proposed Ordinances, or of making any suggestions which might secure to them,
The Council then adjourned.
Page 44
...
Page 45
...
Page 46