40. The principal object of both bills was to make the D.M.S.S. the responsible authority. The Registration of Births and Deaths Bill was submitted to the Legislative Council and passed with the proviso that it should become law on the 1st January, 1932. The Sale of Food and Drugs Amendment Bill has not yet come before Government.
41. Progress was made in the preparation of a Buildings Bill to take the place of the building sections of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance.
42. As in the previous year the low value of the dollar continued to retard progress in matters connected with reorgan-isation. The posts of Senior Health Officer and of two Health Officers remained unfilled and the first mentioned was cut out of the Estimates for 1932. The Dispensary Launch intended for work among the 100,000 floating population was not built and was deleted from the Estimates of 1932. The Motor Travelling Dispensary intended for work in the New Territories was only sanctioned late in the year and the chassis arrived towards the end of December.
43. The Retrenchment Commission which had been appointed to advise regarding the possibility of retrenchment made enquiry into the organisation, functions and workings of the Medical Department early in the year. It found that the Department was not overstaffed, and that more, rather than less health activities should be carried out in the Colony.