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in 1933 will relax their pressure and our estimate of revenue for 1934 is accordingly set at $31,731,625, a figure which can hardly be called over-pessimistic when it is remembered that, as I have just said, our revenue of 1933 apart from windfalls cannot be expected to go much above $30,000,000. On the con- trary we may have tended to optimism in some of our items. Import duty on liquors and tobacco are set at $1,000,000 and $2,300,000 respectively; opium revenue at $1,300,000 where- as the revised estimate of receipts for 1933 under these items only amounts to $900,000, $2,600,000 and $1,200,000.
As re- gards the less speculative items of increase for 1934, I may mention $25,000 on motor spirit where the reduced price should send up consumption; $35,000 from the new Ferry franchise under Licences and Internal Revenue and a further sum of $23,750 under Miscellaneous Receipts (Royalties): $240,000 under the same head in respect of the new Land Trans- port franchises; $600,000 increased water revenue: and $200,000 increase in Assessed Taxes, commonly known as Rates. The last item is inserted with less confidence than the others as although a good deal of new building is still going on there is reason to think we may be overbuilt and such a position though it makes for public health by spreading population brings in its train empty houses and flats on which rates have to be refunded.
I now turn to the expenditure for the coming year and before going into details feel bound to say a furt er word on a point of general structure which occupied a promi- nent place in the Colonial Secretary's speech when he intro- duced the Budget for the present year, namely the allocation of what I may
call general staff, i.c. Cadet Officers and Clerical Officers, to individual departments. The drawbacks
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