HKG-CAR1844-1886 — Page 254

1841-1886

STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 345

As to the criminal returns, I am assured by Mr. May, who was long engaged in the police service in London, that the proportionate number and gravity of offences committed here is considerably less than those of the British metropolis; and when it is remembered that Hong Kong has been the recipient of the scum of Canton, the vilest and fiercest of the population of China, the results cannot but be a matter of congratulation, and serve to show that our police, with all its defects, has not been wholly insufficient for the protection of persons and property.

I have desired the colonial treasurer to prepare a report on the present financial state and future prospects of the colony, which I hope to be shortly enabled to communicate to you.

The estimates for the year 1858 are in the course of preparation. The extreme pressure of public business has led to some delay in getting them ready.

I have, &c.

The Right Hon. H. Labouchere, M.P.,

(Signed)

JOHN BOWRING.

&c.

&c.

Enclosure in No. 36.

SIR,

Colonial Secretary's Office, Victoria, Hong Kong, May 29, 1857.

I HAVE the honour to submit to you the Blue Book for Hong Kong for the year 1856. As I was absent from this colony during the whole of such year, with the exception of the first 15 and the last six days, it will not be in my power to lay before you a report similar to those written by Mr. Mercer, whose locum tenens I have the honour to be, and for past events I must entirely rely upon the information furnished by the different heads of departments

2. The revenue for the year has amounted to £35,500 8s. 9d, and the expenditure to £42,426 2s. 6d, showing, as compared with 1855, a decrease in the revenue of £12,473 2s. 4d., and an increase in the expenditure amounting to £1,612 15s. 3d

However unsatisfactory this may at first sight appear, the causes which have produced the decrease on the one hand and increase on the other are not such as in any way to militate against the well-doing of the colony. In the year 1855 the influx of population caused a great demand for land, and thereupon almost every available lot was put up for sale, and no less a sum than £15,720 16s. 8d., realized from this source alone. In 1856 the premiums, &c. arising from land sales amounted to only £1,141 2s. 2d., showing a falling off of £14,579. 14s. 6d. Were, therefore, the amounts realized by land sales deducted from the revenue in 1855 and 1856 it would be found that instead of a decrease there has been an increase of receipts in 1856 of £2,106 12s. 2d. A single item will also account for the increase of the expenditure, and that is, police and jails, which are in excess over 1855, £1,933 4s. 17d. This excess was caused by the necessity imposed (consequent on the Canton difficulty) of considerably increasing the police force, apprehending an unusual number of persons, and taking a great number of extra precautionary measures. If, therefore, I cannot report very favourably to your Excellency on the debtor and creditor colonial account for the year 1856, yet I cannot find any symptom of falling off. The colony would appear on the whole to be gaining ground; slowly, perhaps, as compared with the remarkable year 1855; but not to retrograde is to advance in a settlement like this. I now proceed to remark on the public works.

3. The surveyor general's office has passed through three hands during 1856. Mr. Cleverly, having gone home on leave in the month of February, was succeeded by Captain Cowper, R.E., and when that officer fell a victim to a lamentable accident in Canton, he was succeeded by the present acting surveyor general, Mr. Walker.

The carefully prepared report of that officer sets forth in detail the various labours of his department during the year, the aggregate amount of expenditure on which has been £9,247 3s. 11d. I do not find any specific items to which I deem it necessary to draw the attention of your Excellency; but I may perhaps be permitted to remark, that the general state of the roads, streets, and drains in and about the town of Victoria reflect the highest credit on the surveyor-general's department generally, and if kept up in their present condition will enable the town of Victoria to bear the test of comparison with any colonial town.

4. The Legislative Council passed during the year 1856 no less than fifteen ordinances. Of these, up to the 31st December, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 had been confirmed by Her Most Gracious Majesty. Ordinances 1, 4, and 6 of 1855 were also confirmed during that year. The changes introduced by the local legislature appear to have been of a most important and beneficial character, especially as regards the practice and procedure of the supreme court, and the administration of civil and criminal justice. Ordinances 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 15 had either been passed at too late a period in the year to afford sufficient time for obtaining the approval of the Queen thereto, or were required to stand the test of trial before being confirmed,

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