120
HONG KON
Expenditure.
Year 1848 £67,658 15
„, 1849
Decrease
38,985 1 61
23,672 14 01
110
Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841-1941
REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND 'PRESENT
2. The expenditure for 1849 amounted to 38,986l. 1s. 6d., which, when set against 62,658l. 15s. 7d., the sum incurred for 1848, exhibits a net decrease in 1849 of 23,672l. 14s. 0d., and is accounted for as follows:-
Establishments £. 4,299 9 34 Administration of justice 314 18 10 Charitable allowances 101 5 0 Police and gaols, exclusive of establishments 1,000 2 11 Rent of building 127 4 11 Transport 272 1 8 Works and buildings 10,076 18 11 Roads, streets, and bridges * Miscellaneous services 2,990 13 1 Land and house purchased 362 0 7 Special expenditure 5,000 0 0 262 19 1 £24,813 13 7On the other hand, the increase has amounted to 1,140L. 19s. 6d. on the follow- ing items, namely;—
Establishments £. s. d. 735 1 11 Pensions, retired allowances, and gratuitics 137 18 4 Revenue services Hospitals, exclusive of establishments 115 11 3 Conveyance of mails 2 8.11 Public Works. 149 19 11 Military Expenditure. Legislation. £1,140 19.62The actual decrease in expenditure during 1843 is therefore 23,672l. 14s. 0d., as appears from the comparative statement at pages 32 and 33 of the Blue Book. 3. The extension of the Harbour Master's Pier, to which I referred in my Despatch accompanying last year's Blue Book, has been completed within the year, and there now remains but one work of any magnitude to be undertaken- the erection of a Government House--on which subject I beg to refer your Lord- ship to my Despatch (No. 82) of the 25th August, 1919. Ample details respect- ing the duties perforined by the Surveyor-General's Department during the year 1849 will be found in Mr. Cleverly's Report herewith enclosed. I also attach a further Report by the same officer on the progress of his department.
4. The Military Expenditure, which in 1848 amounted to 80,778%, has been 75,943l. during the past year, showing a decrease, as compared with the preced- ing one, of 4,835l., and a further saving will be effected during the present year, as three companies of rifles were returned to Ceylon in November lust. Although I have already had occasion to remark that the Governor is in no way responsible for the expenses of this branch of the service, I have, nevertheless, invariably used my best efforts with the respective authorities on the spot to ensure a due regard to economy whenever the contemplated outlay was in any way connected with the Civil Government, as, for instance, the proposed repair of the barracks at Stanley, to which I adverted in my Despatch (No. 19), of the 21st March, 1850.
5. Under this head five Ordinances were passed during the year 1849, all of which have since been approved by Her Majesty. Of these perhaps the most im- portant is No. 1, by which the summary jurisdiction of police. magistrates and justices of the pence was extended, and a court of petty sessions instituted for the trial of certain offences which were before only cognizable by the Supreme Court. This measure, reported by me in detail in Despatch (No. 20) of 24th February, 1849, has fully answered the expectations I had formed of it, by providing for the more speedy settlement of small debts, minor, crimes, and misdemeanours, and I have every reason to believe that it has gained the entire confidence of the com- munity.
By Ordinance No. 3, the summary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was- ex-