Appendix J.
REPORT ON THE NEW TERRITORIES FOR THE YEAR 1934.
DEPARTMENT OF DISTRICT OFFICE, NORTH.
STAFF.
1. Mr. T. Megarry succeeded Mr. E. H. Williams as District Officer early in January.
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE.
2. Tables I and II show some comparative details of the expenditure and revenue from the District in 1933 and 1934. The decrease, by comparison with the previous year, in the amount of revenue collected by the District Office is largely accounted for by a drop in the amount of premia received for land sales. It is noteworthy however that the amount of Crown Rent collected was the largest in the history of our administration. Table III gives a comparative statement of revenue collected and expenditure incurred by the District Office over the last ten years.
MAGISTRACY.
3. Tables IV to VIII give details of the cases both criminal and civil, heard by the District Officer as Magistrate during the year, and include details of juvenile cases, the number of which happily continued small.
4. The number of police cases heard was about 19% higher than the record number of 1933, and more than double the number heard in 1930. Of the total of 1437 cases, 383 concerned traffic offences and dangerous driving, 373 opium and revenue offences, 197 offences against property, 107 offences of unlicensed or unmuzzled dogs, and 83 offences against the person. The number of opium and revenue cases was slightly higher than in 1933, but there was a decrease of over 100 in the number of traffic cases in spite of the continuously increasing traffic on the roads, especially since the inception of the vehicular ferry.
There were 14 cases, as against 8 in 1933, of indictable offences not tried summarily. Many of these involved several defendants and in 12, comprising 4 cases of homicide, 6 of armed robbery, 2 of possession of arms, and 1 of breach of deportation order, committals were made for trial.