5
On Sunday, November 18th, 1928, the four "Southampton" flying boats of the Royal Air Force, under Command of Group Captain M. Cave-Brown-Cave, arrived from Salamague, which is situated in the Northern Philippines. The boats left Singapore on November 1st, and had visited Kuchang, Labuan, Port Princessa, Manila and Salamague. After making one week's stay in Hong Kong they returned to Singapore via Tourane Bay, Coconut Bay, Bangkok, Victoria Point and Penang. On reaching Singapore, they had completed 5,840 miles in 41 days.
II. Finance.
1. The total revenue of the year amounted to $24,968,399 which sum exceeded the Estimate by $4,865,009 and the revenue for 1927 by $3,623,863.
It should be noted, however, that included in the revenue is a sum of $1,963,359 which was recovered from the funds of the Public Works Loan (1927) on account of expenditure on Loan Works during the years 1923-1926.
There were increases under all heads with the exception of Light Dues which showed a slight decrease. The most notable feature was the increase in Land Sales of $1,485,286 and another large increase of $517,790 was shown under Licences and Internal Revenue mainly due to Assessed Taxes, Liquor Duties and Opium Monopoly.
A considerable increase in Radio and Postal Traffic is reflected in the Post Office Revenue which exceeded the Estimate by $151,918 and improved conditions enabling the Kowloon-Canton Railway through service to Canton to be maintained resulted in an increase of $101,800.
2. The expenditure for the year amounted to $21,230,242 which was $952,803 less than the estimate and $385,177 more than the expenditure in 1927.
Substantial savings were effected in the votes of the Public Works Department and the Harbour Department and to a smaller extent in many other departments.
3. The following is a statement of Revenue and Expenditure for the last five years.
Year Revenue Expenditure 1924 $24,209,640 $26,726,428 1925 $23,244,365 $28,266,817 1926 $21,131,582 $23,524,716 1927 $21,344,536 $20,845,065 1928 $24,968,399 $21,230,2424. Public Debt:-In November the balance of the 6% Public Works Loan (1927) was issued at a premium of three per cent. The nominal value of this issue was $1,927,000 bringing the amount of the Loan, which is repayable in 1932, up to $4,927,000. The Sinking Fund amounted to £20,666.