41
- 3-
be
Contribution is that there has to be collected in addition
to the revenue necessary to maintain ordinary Government
services an extra revenue of 25%. It has been argued
that, although the Defence Contribution is less than the
actual cost of the Imperial Garrison maintained in Hong Kong
and still less than the total cost of defence including
Naval defence, the amount payable under this arrangement
is excessive, on the ground that a great part of that
expense arises out of general Imperial needs and in
particular the protection of life and property in China
and is not related to the actual needs of the Colony. I
do not desire, however, to take that attitude. I fully
recognise not only that the presence of large military
نا
and naval forces here is itself of very considerable value
to trade, but also that the security which rests ultimately
on those defence forces is one of the main foundations
of Hong Kong's trade and other economic activities; and
that it is right that the Colony should contribute to its
maintenance.
6.
What I am concerned with are the repercussions
of the "percentage of revenue" basis on policy and to a
lesser degree on accounting procedure. No doubt when
this method of assessment was adopted it was thought that
it would constitute a rough and ready means of securing
a correspondence between the Defence Contribution and the
Colony's ability to pay. Such little virtue as this principle might have would, presumably, continue in force
so long as the objects of taxation remained unchanged and
the receipts reflected more or less correctly variations
in prosperity. But since 1901 the bases and the purposes
of revenue have undergone much metamorphosis throughout