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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
way disappointing. On the contrary, I think it shows a steady pro- gress in the Colony's prosperity. We have now completely recovered, I venture to hope, from the blow dealt us by Bolshevism in 1925. We have re-established very friendly relations with the authorities of the Kwangtung province, and I look forward to years of fruitful co-operation between the Hong Kong Government and the Canton Government for mutual benefit to British and Chinese trade. There may be nothing spectacular in next year's budget; but we have now for the most part overtaken the commitments of the past; and, if the finances of the Colony continue to show elasticity and strength, I have no reason to doubt that we shall be able before long to take up works of considerable magnitude in addition to the very large waterworks, which we propose to construct. (Applause.)
The Bill having been read a second time, the Council went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
In connexion with the item $996,342 for the Harbour Department,
HON. SIR HENRY POLLOCK said.-Sir, In connexion with this vote I wish to move an amendment, of which, for the sake of con- venience, I gave notice to the Hon. Colonial Secretary in a letter I wrote him on Friday last. I move:
"That the proposed vote of $996,342 for the Harbour Depart- ment and Air Services be reduced to $926,342 by the omission from it of the following two items, on page 27 of the Estimates for 1930, namely:
23 1 new motor-launch for G.M.S. Department $30,000, and 28 1 new launch for carriage of stores and relief $40,000;
and that the necessity for these items be referred to the Har- bour Board for the purpose of reporting as to such necessity to this Council."
In support of this motion it is unnecessary for me to draw atten- tion to the fact that a Harbour Board has been recently appointed in this Colony, of which the Harbour Master is Chairman. It is a strongly constituted Board and I think that nobody can possibly dispute its competence to decide on the question of the sufficiency of launches for the use of the Harbour Department. Whilst I am indebted to the Harbour Master for the very full statement he has given to us with regard to the work of the launches in his Department, I submit that the question of whether these additional launches are required cannot satisfactorily be determined by a debate in this Council, but could very easily be determined by the Harbour Board, to which the Harbour Master could submit full details and figures, for instance, all the amounts spent during the past year for hire of launches for the use of the Department. In that way the Harbour Board could form a very good idea as to whether, in fact, this new
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