I have the honor to be,
Sir
Your Most Obedient
Humble Servant,
The Daily Press.
HONGKONG, DECEMBER 23RD, 1878.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
A meeting of the Legislative Council was held on Saturday afternoon. There were present:----
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR. Hon. F. SNOWDEN, Acting Chief Justice. Hon. C. MAY, Acting Colonial Secretary. Hon. G. PHILIPPO, Attorney General. Hon. J. M. PRICE, Acting Colonial Treasurer. Hon. P. RYRIE. Hon. H. LoWCOCK,
Hon. W. KESWICK.
Hon. T. C. HAYLLAR, Q.C.
THE ESTIMATES.
His EXCELLENCY-Gentlemen, the businesS now before us is the second reading of the Ap- propriation Act. You have the estimates now in your hands and I beg leave to move the second reading of the Ordinance.
The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY detailed certain small alterations in the figures given in the bill as laid before hon. members which had incidentally arisen since it passed through the printers' hands.
The bill was then read a second time as follows and committed :---
An Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, to apply a sum not exceeding seven hundred sad eaventy-nine thousand dollars to the Public Service of the year 1879,
Whereas the expenditure required for the service of this Colony for the year 1879 has been estimated st the sum of seven hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred and one dollars and thirty-eight cents: Bo it enacted by the Governor of Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:-- 1.---A sum not exceeding seven hundred and seventy- wine thousand dollars shall be, and the same is hereby charged upon the revenue of this Colony for the ser vice of the year 1879, and the said sum so charged shall be expended as hereinafter specified, that is to say--
Governor.
ESTABLISHMENTS.
Colonial Secretary Colonial Treasurer
Auditor General Clerk of Connoils Surveyor Genera.i Government Gardena
* ઇ.
2,918.00
5,998.00
8,804,00
16,479.00
$100.00
27,902.00 4,552.80
Total Establishments $889,758.60
Postmaster General.
Registrar-General
80,680.00
11,966.00
Harbour Master
27,890.00
Lighthouses
7,424.00
Collector of Stamp Revenue..
4,162.00
Judicial
22,744.00
Bogistrar of Companies.
192.00
Ecclesiastical
1,158 00
Educational
23,684.00
Medical
15,876,00
Police Magistrates
6,394.00
Police
145,859.80
Gool
21,552.00
Fire Brigade
8,636.00
SERVICES EXCLUSIVE OF ESTABLISHMENTS.
Colonial Treasurer
Surveyor General.
1,500.00 1.800.00
Postmaster Goneral.
20,784.78
Registrar General
25.00 20.50
Judicial
200.00
Educational
8,000.00
Medical
19,020.00
Police Magistrates
390.00
Polico
28,885.00
Gaol
18,170.00
Fire Brigade
5.040.00
Charitable Allowances
4,000.00
Transport
........
4,500.00
Works and Buildings.
85,750.00
Roads, Streets, and Bridges
41,720.00
Lighthouses
8,000.00
Miscellaneous Servicea
38,600.00
Military Contribution.
104,348.(K)
Total
$778,401.38
On the vote for the Colonial Secretary's de- partment,
His EXCELLENCY said-Perhaps, Gentlemen, I may say one word on this item. The Council will recollect that last year, or possibly it would be more correct to say at the beginning of: the present year, I brought to the notice of the Council the state of the interpretation in the Governor's and Colonial Secretary's departments. I had previously circulated amongst the members of the Council a minute of Mr. Gardiner Austin's on the subject, with a minute of my own, and at that time I suggested that there should be an officer appointed to be interpreter to the Go- vernor's and Colonial Secretary's departments. The Chief Justice, Sir John Smale, suggested |
that the gentleman so appointed should be at the head of the interpretation staff of the Colony and under him should come the interpreters in the Supreme and other courts-not that he was to go into the courts himself to interpret, but that he should be at the head of the staff. I reported to Her Majesty's Government the views of the Chief Justico and the members of the Council, all of which were very fraukly ex- pressed, and the result is the Secretary of State,! Fir Michael Hicks-Beach, has asked me if there was any gentleman in the calouy I thought fit! to be at the head of the interpretation depart- ment. Well, when the question was first asked was not able to answer in the affirmative. There certainly was a gentlemen in the colony,, thoroughly competent for the position, recon- mended to me by my hon. friends here in talk- ing over the mattter, but at the time I was not able to induce him to undertake Government employment. Accordingly at that time you were good enough to give a vote of £500 a year, and by it I was empowered to appoint either a Chinese interpreter or a European with a suf. ficient knowledge of Chinese, but my hon. friends who were present said they thought a European interpreter would be the best suited for this particular post, at the same time I was given to understand that in the event of European gentleman sufficiently competent being appointed then the Council would be pre pared to vote an adequate sum, beyond the £,. for his services. At present, however, I have not asked you for more. I have put 2500 on the ! estimates as a purely provisional and temporary allowance, because when wrote to the ecrotary of State for the Colonies I was able to report to him the views of the members of the Council, and to convey to him the name of the most distin- guished Chinese scholar now in China as being the gentleman whom I thought might accopt that post, and I ventured to say to Sir Michael Hicks. Beach, knowing the views of the members of the Council, of the Chief Justice, and the various gentlemen of influence in the colony, as to the eminent qualifications of the gentleman in ques- tion, and as to the necessity of having a first! class man at the head of this department, I believed the Council wouldcheerfully vote $5,000 a year as the salary. When I receive Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's answer, which I trust will be is accordance with the views we all share, then I shall have to submit to you a supplementary estimate making the salary £1,000 instead of £500, and that I will have to do when the gentleman to whom I refer shall have vacated another temporary post which he now holds.
On the vote for the Postmaster-General's de- partment, in which, under the head of conveyance of mails, the exchange value of the dollar was taken as 3s. 104.,
Hoo. P. RYKIE called attention to the fact that exchange was going down and suggested that it would be better to state it at a lower figure.
His EXCELLENCY-Exchange is undoubtedly going down. At the same time I will explain how the conveyance of mails is paid for. We were losing on our remittances, and accordingly some time ago I obtained tho sauction of the Execu- tive Council to the following course. We had
in London the swn of $140,000 in the bands of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank to the special fund account, and in this colony also we had something like $200,000 in the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank to the special fund account. I obtained the sanction of the Executive Council to a transfer of €10.000 from the special fund account in London, at the Hongkong and Sbang, hai Bank, to the Crown Agents of the colony, and a corresponding transfer was accomplished in Hongkong, so that as far us we are oncerned no actual loss or gain has taken place upon the transaction, but in the remittances for the last six months I have bean able to do this-when Mr. Lister writes and says a remittance of so much has to be made, instead of buying a bill and losing heavily, the Colonial Secretary writes to the Crown Agouts directing them to pay so much to the Postmaster in London. So long as that lusts we will lose nothing by exchange.
Hon. P. RYRIE-But is it not required for any other purpose?
His EXCELLENCY-No; for no other purpose. Hon. P. RYCIE-It is very fortunate." His EXCELLENCY Yes; it is very fortunate. The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY—It was remitted, too, at a very favourable rate, 4s. 3d.
His EXCELLENCY-As this matter has been mentioned I may venture to say this, that when I made my financial statement a few months ago, in referring to the progress and prosperity of the colony I referred to the Post Office. You will perhaps be interested in knowing that the figures I quoted were the figures put into my
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