we come to
S I X
such
people who smoke opium to excess with very deplorable results.. And we must equally deplore the fact that when
other stimulants 1.kul, thara is alon percentage of people, possibly a good deal higher percentage, who, use those stimulants to excess. With regard to opium, we have at all events a certain amount of solid ground to go upon with regard to the proportion of excess of opium smokers, because your Excellency will remember that a very able member of this service, who has now gone to another Colony, in a pamphlet which was laid on the table of this Council a few years ago, worked out very carefully by statistics the question of opiuma consumption, and he arrived at the conclusion that the pro- portion of opium smokers who smoked to excess could not by any possibility amount to more than about two per cent. It is important, I think, that that view should, in view of other things which may be brought to bear upon the Home Govern- ment, be impressed on the Ilome Govern ment at the present time. And also in connection with this subject, Sir, I was informed only yesterday that the Government of the Straits Settlements has recently entered into a contract for a period of five years for the purchase of opium for preparation in the Straits Settlements. Now, Sir, I can only assume that the action of the Government of the Straits Settlements must have been taken with the approval of the Colonial Office Authorities, and it certainly seems to me that we might take a leaf out of the book of the Straits Settlements Government and approach the Colonial Office Authorities with a request for permission to make a contract for five years to purchase opium for preparation from the Indian Govern- ment, It has often been considered in the past that this Colony and the Straits Settlements are more or less sister colonies, and I think we should in this matter follow the lead of the Straits Settlements, especially as it is necessary that we should have this revenue in order to balance our budget, and, as my hon. friend opposite has pointed out, the other sources of revenue have been pretty well milked in the past and are not capable of any very great expansion. Therefore I venture to make this suggestion for the consideration of your Excellency. There is only one other Department in the budget to which I shall refer, and I shall only say a few words with reference to it; that is, the Kowloon-Canton Railway. I must confess, Sir, that I have looked into the figures in connection with this railway with some little dissatisfaction. It seems to me that our expenditure is going up a good deal. I do not propose to criticise more than three items in that expenditure, and they are all on the same page in the budget speech, 115 of the draft estimates. 1 must say, Sir, thut the second item on that pago, Coal $62,000, seems to me to be a very large item indeed to expend, even taking into account the explanatory note at the foot with reference to the 'norease in the price of coal. It seems to me that even if we put a fairly high price upon coal, that must represent an enormous quantity of coal consumed, and I should have thought an unnecessary quantity. And, Sir, in this connection, I have no doubt that these accounts are audited, bat I presume what the auditors do is to simply pass certain vouchers and figures and check things in that way, and that the question of what is necessary is not gone into by the auditors at all. On the same page, Sir, appears the item Main- tenance and renewals of loco. engines. There again there is a considerable rise, and it seems to me that that matter might be also looked into. It seems a large sum to pay for maintenance and renewals of loco, engines, $30,000 odd. The next item is $19,521 estimated to be spent on repairs and renewals of vehicles for 1915. Those are the three items under the heading Railway which struck me, and I think it would be worth while for them to be inquired into. No doubt, under the present circumstances we require to cut down our expenditure on the railway as far as we reasonably can, as well as in every other department in which this Government is concerned.
The DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS→→ Your Excellency, in reply to the remarks of the hon. member who represents the Chamber of Commerce, the first point he raised was the question as to whether the Stanley Road would be open to traffic this year.
A certain sum has been expended in improving the corners of the Deep Water Bay to Stanley Road, and also the road from Stanley to Shaukiwan, and in next year's estimate a further pro- vision is made for that improvement. It is probable, I should say, that by the time the new road from the Aberdeen Road to Deep Water Bay is completed, that these corners on the road from Stanley to Shaukiwan will be sufficiently im- proved for a motor-car to go at least as far as Tytam Tuk. Of course, now the dam at Tytamtuk will carry on the top of it the main road, and until that dam is completed the road cannot be said to be finished as far as Shaukiwan. The next item the hon. member referred to is the Tytamtuk second scheme. This year we spent approximately $600,000; next year we hope to expend $700,000, leaving about $500,000 for the two succeeding years, and as far as I can judge now I think the work will be completed within the con- tract time, that is, 1817. The provision in this year's estimates for the harbour of refuge should complete that work, and, as the hon. member has pointed out, there will bu & saving on the Government estimate. In the following year provision will have mado for the retention money held back from the contractor. which cannot be paid next year as the period will not have elapsed. "Still, there will be a saving in the Government csti- mate. With regard to the remark of the hon. member about Government estimates being exceeded, nothing is easier than for an engineer to make an estimate so big that it will not be exceeded and avoid ad- verse criticism, but if that were done all prices with local contractors would in- mediately go up. Therefore, he does his best in all cases to make as near an esti- mate as possible and as circumstanCES permit. The next item the hon. member referred to was roads in the New Terri- tories. The Taipo-Fauling road, I think,
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