23.
285
allowance.
Rent of public telephones is up by $1,000 on account of extra lines and payment for Government lists in the directory. The two stationery votes together show a reduction of $35,000, whilst transport of Government Servants is reduced by $25,000.
4
Head 29, Charitable Services,
The reduction in the amount shown for the Aberdeen
Industrial School does not mean that Goverment has altered its policy of supporting the School, but the grant is based on the number of boys sent by the Magistrates, the Police and the Secretary for Chinese Affairs to the School, and it is anticipated that the full quota will not be taken up next year. The contribution to the Benevolent Society is increased by $1,000, an increase which I am sure needs no justification in the eyes of anyone who knows anything of the work done by that Society. It had been hoped to have made a start next year with a home for lepers, as recommended by the Committee which reported in Sessional Paper No.1 of 1935, and negotia- tions had already been commenced between Government and the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who run the Home at Sheklung, with a view to their opening one at Hong Kong,
But as it would have involved Government in an initial expenditure of $50,000 on buildings alone for only twenty inmates, it did not seem that the scheme was one which should be embarked upon in the midst of a depression. It has there- fore been decided not to proceed with the home until times have improved. The grant to the sylum has been raised from $2,500 to $4,000 to cover the estimated cost of maintenance of lepers sent from Hong Kong. The two sub-heads "Passages and Relief