461
$18၊ > -ture, for which no provision appears on the Estimates, on works connected with the improvement of sanitation and the prevention of plague. It is, however, not yet possible to estimate how much of such expenditure will fall upon the revenue of the current year,
5. With regard to paragraph 12, the Director of Public Works reports that in his opinion there is no Overseer on his Staff who is qualified to supervise the erection of the new Law Courts. There are only four Overseers now engaged in the supervision of Public Works Extraordinary, besides a Eurasian who is temporarily employed in supervising the foundations for the Western Market and the Harbour Office.
All the other works are being carried on with the aid of native foremen, or subject only to the visits of inspection paid by the Assistant Engineers. Two of the four Overseers mentioned above are men recruited locally, and such men are not capable of superintending the erection of a work of the class and magnitude of the new Law Courts. The other two Overseers will be fully occupied on Waterworks for some years to come, and, from the remoteness of the works, will not be available for supervising any other. I, therefore, concur in the opinion of Chatham that an additional Overseer for the Law Courts is indispensable, and that he should be a thoroughly trained and reliable man.
6. In paragraph 14, you point out that from the last returns of the Government Bank balances it does not appear that there are any surplus funds immediately available. The current account, however, was recently on the credit side,
and