HKG-CAR1844-1886

1841-1886

REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT

197

No. 2.

No. 3.

No. 4.

HONG KONG.

No. 36.

Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir S. G. BONHAM, K.C.B. to the

(No. 33.)

MY LORD DUKE,

Duke of NEWCASTLE.

Victoria, Hong Kong, April 7, 1854.

(Received 12th June, 1854.)

1. I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Grace the Blue Book of Hong Kong for the year 1853.

Revenue and Expenditure.

2. The total revenue for the year ending 31st December 1853, was 24,700l. 6s. 3¼d., exceeding the amount collected in 1852 by 3,369l. 4s. 7¼d. The following statement is a recapitulation of the expenditure during the same period, and shows an increase of 1,652l. 19s. 3d. over the expenditure of the preceding year, namely:

Civil Establishment £ s. d. 13,974 4 0 Judicial Establishment and Police 14,681 4 2! Ecclesiastical Establishment 557 5 5 Public Works and Buildings 5,872 3 7½ Miscellaneous Expenditure 1,283 15 2 Pensions 50 0 0 Total 36,418 12 0½ Expenditure in 1852 - 34,765 12 9 Excess of Expenditure in 1853 -1,652 19 3

But this excess, I beg to observe, includes arrears of salaries for 1852 paid in 1853, amounting to 1,614l. 18s. 6d., as shown at page 21 of the Blue Book.

Military Expenditure.

3. The payments made by the Commissariat and Ordnance departments were 50,346l. 1¼s. 5d., being 461. 9s. 5d. less than in the year 1852.

Public Works.

4. The total outlay under this is 5,872l. 3s. 7¼d., of which 3,843l. 3s. 6¾d. have been expended in the construction of the new Government House. The annexed reports by the surveyor general show in detail the various works and improvements undertaken by him, as also the progress of his department during the past year. I may here again remark that the convicts sentenced to hard labour, the chief portion of whom are Chinese, have been profitably employed on public works.

Legislation.

5. Four Ordinances were passed during the year, No. 1 being "for the Regulation of the Gaol of Hong Kong,” and No. 2 "for the Removal of Doubts regarding the Right of Aliens to hold and transfer Property within the Colony.' The two last, No. 3 and 4, were, as already reported, for the amendment of previous enactments.

Population.

6. The enclosed returns by the officiating registrar general show that the total population of Hong Kong on the 31st December 1853, consisted of