of the Encl. 646a
13 that 18th Dec. 1894
count of the proceedings of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council during
the consideration
of the Appropriation Bill for 1895 and of the Council itself during the Committee stage of the Bill Your Lordship will see that the Unofficial Members unanimously opposed the vote on
account of Military Contribution. The Unofficial Members are
of opinion that the Military Contribution fixed as it is at
present at £40,000 is far too large a proportion of the annual
income to be devoted to such an object. They therefore strongly urge that the amount should be fixed at a stated number of dollars (say $300,000). They contend that large payments have to be made locally by the Military in silver and point out that while it would be a boon to this Colony, the revenue of which is collected in silver, to have the amount