For 1895 I have taken 2/1 as the probable average value of the dollar, and the Estimated Returns will be as follows:---
Revenue $1,999,076. Expenditure $2,041,637, showing a deficit of $42,561. On account of Public Works Extraordinary a further sum of $24,670 will be required, making the deficit $67,231. This deficit is nearly accounted for by the falling off in the Opium Revenue, which shows a decrease of $54,800. The farm will be let from the 1st March, 1895, at $286,000 a year instead of $340,800,
I propose to meet the deficit of $67,231 in the following way:-
(1) By an increase of stamp duties, which is expected to yield $40,000 a year; (2) By an increase in fees to be paid for spirit licences, estimated to yield $16,500 per annum; and (3) By an increase in pawnbrokers' fees, yielding $23,950 a year. These sums amount altogether to $80,450, so that the additional taxation will not only cover the deficit but leave a surplus of about $13,200. I have already submitted these proposals to you, gentlemen, the Unofficial Members of Council, and you have expressed your concurrence in them. I may remind you that at the same time you expressed yourselves not averse to still further taxation by way of an increase in rates, a small tax on European shipping, and one also on kerosine if it was necessary to impose them. I am very glad indeed to say that these additional imposts will not now be necessary. For the assistance that you rendered to the Government on the occasions of our meeting to discuss these matters I beg to return you my grateful thanks. When such happy relations exist between the Official and Unofficial Members as now obtain, the duties of a Governor are rendered far less laborious and irksome than they would otherwise be.
The chief liability which the Colony has been obliged to incur in connection with the plague has been that which will arise out of proceedings under the Taipingshan Resumption Ordinance. That Act is now in operation, and during the ensuing year arrangements will have to be made for covering the expenses thrown upon the Colony by its provisions.
The object of the Ordinance is, as you are aware, to permit the resumption by the Crown of a certain prescribed area of the City of Victoria which was one of the filthiest and most overcrowded spots in the Colony, and consequently the centre of the plague. The necessity of the resumption was apparent. According to the best advice available to the Government, the houses in the neighbourhood were infected. Many of the buildings were small, dark, badly drained and ventilated, and many quite unfit for human habitation. It is obvious that whether the wholesale or partial destruction of the buildings and realignment of the streets is eventually decided upon, the work must be under one controlling power, and that power must be the Government.
The resumption of the property, and the consequent provision for compensation for such resumption, was therefore obligatory.
The area comprises, roughly speaking, 400,000 square feet, or 10 acres of land, and the amount of compensation has been roughly estimated at between $700,000 and $800,000. This sum, together with the incidental expenses of the Arbitration Board and its officers, will have to be provided hereafter. It will probably be advisable to raise a loan for that purpose, and in that case I hope that the Colony will be able to meet the interest on it out of the excess of income over expenditure which will accrue from year to year. For the moment, no doubt, this expenditure seems very heavy, but if the steps taken in regard to the resumed area prevent, as it is confidently hoped they may, a recrudescence or recurrence of the disease, no expenditure of money and no sacrifice of time can be deemed too costly or too great.
On the other hand, we may certainly look in the future if not for a complete reimbursement of the sums expended, at any rate for a considerable reimbursement by the readjustment of premia and Crown rent on the sale of the property resumed.
Until the survey of the area which is now proceeding is completed, and a definite line of action decided on, it is impossible to give any precise figures as to the amount the property will bring in on its resale.
Whatever be the result of the resumption and the operations connected therewith which I have endeavoured to describe, we shall feel that we have done our best honestly to rehabilitate a neighbourhood hitherto pre-eminent for its filth and unhealthiness, and we may be sure that the money expended will not have been expended in vain.
I will now explain the intentions of the Government in respect to Taitam Reservoir. Insufficient supply of water is considered to rank among the several defects of sanitation with which we have had to deal. To meet this defect, the Government proposes as soon as possible to raise the existing Reservoir Dam at Taitam by 12 feet 6 inches. We propose also to construct a weir 10 feet above the level of the existing one and to surmount the same by a moveable sluice capable of raising the top water level of the reservoir to a height of 12 feet 6 inches above its present level. It is anticipated that these works under normal conditions will increase the storage capacity of the Reservoir by 78,000,000 gallons, and possibly by the use of the sluice by 98,000,000 gallons. The total storage capacity of Taitam Reservoir alone will then be 400,000,000 gallons. The cost of these works is estimated at $60,000, an amount which can be fairly charged against the Loan of 1892. This matter will be laid before the Public Works Committee of this Council this afternoon.
I take the opportunity of laying on the table a report on the subject of the Water Supply by the Consulting Engineer, Mr. Chadwick, and I think you will find his remarks in reference to the evils of the intermittent system and the necessity of preventing unnecessary waste instructive and apposite to the circumstances of Hongkong.
I now come to an extremely interesting question and that is the construction of the Sanitary Board. I need not say that this subject has engaged the most earnest consideration of the Government, and I have consulted you, Gentlemen, and have obtained your opinions in regard to it. You will remember that the Retrenchment Committee, after a searching enquiry into all the departments of the public service, directed my special attention to the Sanitary Board. The Committee suggested that the whole sanitary system should be placed on a different basis; that all sanitary arrangements and powers should be placed in the hands of one thoroughly competent officer who should be personally responsible to Government for all matters connected with the health of the Colony and for carrying out all sanitary laws and regulations. The majority of the Unofficial Members of this Council appear to concur in that view, and favourable as I am personally to municipal and representative institutions where they can be safely established, I am bound to say that I consider that their opinion is one that should, in this instance, be acted upon. So far as my experience goes, this Colony stands on quite a different footing, in regard to sanitary matters, from other Colonies with which I am acquainted. The really great difficulty in connection with matters of sanitation in Hongkong arises out of the customs of the Chinese population. You can neither make people sober nor clean by Act of Parliament, and sanitary arrangements in this Colony with its 200,000 Chinese inhabitants must be subject to constant supervision and superintendence by a large staff of officers working under a head, who must give his whole time and energies to the duties of his office. That a Sanitary Board, meeting once a fortnight, could properly control and direct such a staff, I do not believe, and that four or five independent gentlemen could be found who have the time and inclination to devote several hours daily to such a task is beyond the bounds of possibility. I hope shortly to be in a position to inform you definitely what steps it has been decided to take to place the Sanitary Board on a new basis.
The Government is indebted to the Retrenchment Committee for its valuable report on the expenditure of the Colony and the possibility of effecting economies in its administration. I have forwarded the report to the Secretary of State, and have submitted most of the recommendations of the Committee for his Lordship's favourable consideration.
Gentlemen, there are one or two other matters connected with trade, education, crime, and exchange compensation, to which I feel bound to refer, but I will do so as briefly as possible.
Trade, as represented by shipping and emigration, received, as I have already stated, a severe check in the spring and summer of this year. Emigration was practically stopped for four months and trade to the adjacent ports was disorganised by the quarantine restrictions imposed and by the absence of numerous Chinese merchants who fled from the Colony. Notwithstanding these hindrances, however, vessels with a total tonnage of no less than 11,813,136 tons passed in and out of the waters of Hongkong during the ten months ending the 31st October last. The cargoes of those vessels aggregated 6,209,191 tons, being a difference of 111,755 tons of shipping and 98,512 tons of cargo as compared with the same period in 1893. If we exclude the junk trade from this calculation, and it was naturally most affected by local causes, the difference between the first ten months of 1894 and 1893 would be 24,000 tons of cargo in favour of 1893.
The revenue collected by the Harbour Department to the 31st October last was $4,000 less than that collected during the same period in the previous year.
The educational work of the Colony was also temporarily paralysed. An endeavour was made to counteract the panic that set in at first by keeping the schools at work in spite of the diminished attendance caused by the removal of Chinese families from the Colony. Since
For 1895 I have taken 2/1 as the probable average value of the dollar, and the Estimated Returns will be as follows:---
Revenue $1,999,076. Expenditure $2,041,637,-showing a deficit of $42,561. On account of Public Works Extraordinary a further sum of $24,670 will be required, making the deficit $67,231. This deficit is nearly accounted for by the falling off in the Opiun Revenue, which shows a decrease of $54,800. The farm will be ler from the 1st March, 1895, at $286,000 a year instead of $340,800,
1 propose to meet the deficit of $67,231 in the following way:-
(1) By nu increase of stamp duties, which is expected to yield $40,000 a year; (2) By an increase in fees to be paid for spirit licences. estimated to yield $16,500 per annum; and (3) By an increase in pawnbrokers' fees, yielding $23,950 a year. These sums amount altogether to $80,450, so that the additional taxation will not only cover the deficit but leave a surplus of about $13,200, I have already submitted these proposals to you, gentlemen, the Unofficial Members of Council, and you have expressed your concurrence in them. I may remind You that at the same time you expressed yourselves not averse to still further taxation by way of an increase in rates, a small tax on European shipping, and one also on kerosine if it was necessary to impose them. I am very glad indeed to say that these additional imposts will not now be necessary. For the assistance that you rendered to the Government on the occasions of our meeting to discuss these matters I beg to return you my grateful thanks. When such happy relatious exist between the Official and Unofficial Members as now obtain, the duties of a Governor are rendered far less laborious and irksome than they would otherwise be.
The chief liability which the Colony has been obliged to incur in connection with the plague has been that which will arise out of proceedings under the Taipingshan Resumption Ordinance. That Act is now in operation, and during the ensuing year arrangements will have to be made for covering the expenses thrown upon the Colony by its provisions.
The object of the Ordinance is, as you are aware, to permit the resumption by the Crown of a certain prescribed area of the City of Victoria which was one of the filthiest and most overcrowded spots in the Colony, and consequently the centre of the plague. The necessity of the resumption was apparent. According to the best advice available to the Government, the houses in the neighbourhood were infected. Many of the buildings were small, dark, badly drained and ventilated, and many quite unfit for human habitation. It is obvious that whether the wholesale or partial destruction of the buildings and realigument of the streets is eventually decided upon, the work must be under one controlling power, and that power must be the Government.
The resumption of the property, and the consequent provision for compensation for such resumption, was therefore obligatory.
The area comprises, roughly speaking, 400,000 square feet, or 10 acres of land, and the amount of compensation has been roughly estimated at between $700,000 and $800,000. This sun, together with the incidental expenses of the Arbitration Board and its officers, will have to be provided hereafter. It will probably be advisable to raise a loan for that purpose, and in that case I hope that the Colony will be able to meet the interest on it out of the excess of income over expenditure which will accrue from year to year. For the moment, no doubt, this expenditure seems very heavy, but if the steps taken in regard to the resumed area prevent, as it is confidently hoped they may, a recrudescence or recurrence of the discase, no expenditure of money and no sacrifice of time can be deemed too costly or too great.
On the other hand we may certainly look in the future if not for a complete reimbursement of the sums expended, at any rate for a considerable reimbursement by the readjustment of premia and Crown rent on the sale of the property resumed.
Until the survey of the area which is now proceeding is completed, and a definite line of nction decided on, it is impossible to give any precise figures as to the amount the property will bring in on its resale.
may
Whatever be the result of the resumption and the operations connected therewith which I have endeavoured to describe we shall feel that we have done our best honestly to rehabilitate a neighbourhood hitherto pre-eminent for its filth and unhealthiness, and we may be sure that the money expended will not have been expended in vain.
An
I will now explain the intentions of the Government in respect to Taitam Reservoir. insufficient supply of water is considered to rank among the several defects of sanitation with which we have had to deal. To meet this defect the Government proposes as soon as possible to raise the existing Reservoir Dam at Taitam by 12 feet 6 inches. We propose also
}
542
to construct a weir 10 feet above the level of the existing one and to surmount the same by a moveable sluice capable of raising the top water level of the reservoir to a height of 12 feet 6 inches above its present level. It is anticipated that these works under normal conditions will increase the storage capacity of the Reservoir by 78,000,000 gallons, and possibly by the use of the sluice by 98,000,000 gallons. The total storage capacity of Taitam Reservoir alone will then be 400,000,000 gallons. The cost of these works is estimated at $60,000, an amount which can be fairly charged against the Loan of 1892. This matter will be laid before the Public Works Committee of this Council this afternoon.
I take the opportunity of laying on the table a report on the subject of the Water Supply by the Consulting Engineer, Mr. CHADWICK, and I think you will find his remarks in reference to the evils of the intermittent system and the necessity of preventing une- cessary waste instructive and apposite to the circumstances of Hongkong.
I now come to an extremely interesting question and that is the construction of the Sanitary Board. I need not say that this subject has engaged the most earnest consideration of the Government, and I have consulted you, Gentlemen, and have obtained written
your opinions in regard to it. You will remember that the Retrenchment Committee, after a searching enquiry into all the departments of the public service, directed my special attention to the Sanitary Board. The Committee suggested that the whole sanitary system should be placed on a different basis; that all sanitary arrangements and powers should be placed in the hands of one thoroughly competent officer who should be personally responsible to Government for all matters connected with the health of the Colony and for carrying out all sanitary laws and regulations. The majority of the Unofficial Members of this Council appear to concur in that view, and favourable as I am personally to municipal and repre- sentative institutions where they can be safely established, I am bound to say that I consider that their opinion is one that should, in this instance, be acted upon. So far as my experience goes, this Colony stands on quite a different footing, in regard to sanitary matters, from other Colonies with which I am acquainted. The really great difficulty in connection with matters of sanitation in Hongkong arises out of the customs of the Chinese population. You can neither make people sober nor clean by Act of Parliament, and sanitary arrange- ments in this Colony with its 200,000 Chinese inhabitants must be subject to constant supervision and superintendence by a large staff of officers working under a head, who must give his whole time and energies to the duties of his office. That a Sanitary Board, meeting once a fortnight, could properly control and direct such a staff, I do not believe, and that four or five independent gentlemen could be found who have the tine and inclination to devote several hours daily to such a task is beyond the bounds of possibility. I hope shortly to be in a position to inform you definitely what steps it has been decided to take to place the Sanitary Board on a new basis.
The Government is indebted to the Retrenchment Committee for its valuable report on the expenditure of the Colony and the possibility of effecting economies in its administration. I have forwarded the report to the Secretary of State, and have submitted most of the recom mendations of the Committee for his Lordship's favourable consideration.
Gentlemen, there are one or two other matters connected with trade, education, crime, and exchange compensation, to which I feel bound to refer, but I will do so as briefly as possible.
Trade, as represented by shipping and emigration, received, as I have already stated, a severe check in the spring and summer of this year. Emigration was practically stopped for four months and trade to the adjacent ports was disorganised by the quarantine restric- tions imposed and by the absence of numerous Chinese merchants who Bed from the Colony. Notwithstanding these hindrances, however, vessels with a total tonnage of no less than 11,813,136 tous passed in and out of the waters of Hongkong during the ten months ending the 31st October last. The cargoes of those vessels aggregated 6,209,191 tons, being a difference of 111,755 tons of shipping and 98,512 tons of cargo as compared with the same period in 1893. If we exclude the junk trade from this calculation, and it was naturally most affected by local causes, the difference between the first ten months of 1894 and 1893 would be 24,000 tous of cargo in favour of 1893.
The revenue collected by the Harbour Department to the 31st October last was $4,000 less than that collected during the same period in the previous year.
The educational work of the Colony was also temporarily paralysed. An endeavour was made to counteract the panic that set in at first by keeping the schools at work in spite of the diminished attendance caused by the removal of Chinese families from the Colony. Since
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.