salary.
572
4.
The additional allowance for clerical ex-
-penses referred to by the Secretary of State amounted to $1,200
a year commencing on 1st. January, 1904, and the bonus for Land
Court work was granted in respect of extra work in 1903 in con-
-nection with the Cheungshawan Case in the Land Court and two
appeals from the Land Court referring to land in Kowloon Bay.
The total sum now allowed me for my clerical
staff is $2,040 per annum (the Office of Crown Solicitor's Clerk
having ceased to exist), and this sum is barely sufficient to
pay the salaries of one Interpreter and of one Typewriting Clerk
5.
the smallest possible staff for the work required.
6.
The Land Court Work (including Appeals from
the Land Court) I have always regarded as an extra, entirely
outside the ordinary routine of the Crown Solicitor's Department,
and that view has been endorsed by the Government on several
occasions.
7.
As you are aware, a very large proportion
of the time of myself and of my private assistants and clerks
was occupied last year with the case known as the Cheung Sha
Wan Appeal, and, in the event of the costs of that Appeal not
being recovered from the Appellants, I propose to make a separate
application in respect of these costs.
8.
Quite apart from the Land Court Cases the
work