FOUR
of
35
purchased. Then on page 19, against Imports and Exports, the approved estimate for 1914 was $1,017,233. The anonded ustimate was $949,300, while the estimate for next year is $984,519. The point 1 wish to make is that if you give us in the summary on page 19 the draft and revised estimates, these figures ought to be carried out in the body of the account. Then, and not till then, can wo adjust them. I have raised this question betore, when I was told in a most curt manner by the then Colonial Secretary, that the accounts were arranged 111 accordance with instructions from the Secretary of State, and therefore nothing more could be done. 1 submit, however, that when unofficial members, as business men, are called upon to discuss the accounts of the Colony once in a year, the accounts should be rendered in such a way that business men can intelligently and quickly grasp the details, because we are all busy men and have not time to spend weeks over the accounts. I submit that if you are tied down here by the red tape of an ancient despatch from the Secretary of State, it is worth while considering whether we should ask the Secretary of State to change his attitude and render his accounts in such a way that they will be intelligible to the man in the street The grant to the Royal Society of £200 we thoroughly approve, because we realise the necessity guarding against the danger of the importation of yellow fever in the Colony, and if your Excellency comes forward at any time for more we shall be glad to consider and support a vote to further help that very laudable object. There is a very heavy increase in the Police and Fire Brigade votes, but under present conditions we cannot do anything else but approve, particularly as regards the Fire Brigade. With regard to the Medical Department, we are glad indeed that your Excellency, in pursuance of a promise made some time ago, has increased the nursing staff. At the time we did not consider the increase was likely to prove sufficient. We trust it will, but if practical experience shows that the increase is not sufficient, we trust your Excellency will inmediately come to us, and we will be only too pleased to agree to any further increase and charge you ask for. The next item I propose to deal with is the Volunteers. Of course at the present moment the Volunteers bulk very largely in view. The Hongkong Volunteer Corps numbers 469 officers, non-commis- sioned officers and men. The Reserves number 350, making a total of 819. The Reserves, I believe, are supposed to be composed of men of over years of age. Now, I happened to be somewhat interested in the Shanghai Volunteer Force at the time of the Boxer trouble in 1900. Out of a community somewhat smaller than Hongkong we raised a force of 1,200. I was civil com- mandant of the corps. The Reserve there did not include men of the age of some of the present Reserve in Hongkong, and the only conclusion I can come to is that we have not got in the main body of the Volunteer corps the number of men we ought to have. We have only got the contemptible number of 469. I think I am justified in the remarks 1 make, because the order is that all the Volun teers have to wear uniform all the time, and as I go about the streets I sec a large number of men of English nationality not wearing uniform. They are not in the Volanters, but they ought to be. A large number of young fellows ought to join the Volunteers in the days in which we are now living, and in view of the encourage- ment given by the Government, but, to their disgrace, they are not in the corps. Coming to the question of education, in your Excellency's address you remarked that there was an increase of $44,000 in this vote, chiefly due to Mr. Kadoorie handing over the Ellis Kadoorie School to the Government. We have known Mr. Kadoorie for a considerable number of years, and this is yet one more instance of the generosity displayed by him towards his fellow residents. I can only gladly endorse the remarks made by your Excel- bency of his generosity in this matter. Coming now to public work, although the extension of the Central Police Station has entailed a large expenditure on the Colony, we realise the pressing need there was for this work, and it is only to be regretted that it was not carried out earlier. We are glad to see that the Aber- deen to Deep Water Bay road has been proceeded with, and we hope before very long the Stanley Road will be made available for carriage traffic. With regard to Tytamtuk, apparently very good progress is being made. The revised estimate came to $2,400,000, and the estimated expenditure up to the end of this year is $589,000. Tho estimate for 1915 is $700,000, leaving a balance of $1,100,000 to be expended to carry out the work. I have given the hon. the Director of Public Works notice of what I was going to refer to, and I understand he will be able to give us the gratifying assurance that this work will be completed by the end of 1917, and also give us the estimated cost. The revised estimate for the Mongkoktsui refuge js $2,301,600. The expenditure to the end of this year has been nearly two million, and the grant for next year has been put down at $212,000, which is about $130,000 under the estimate. I trust that this work will be thoroughly completed for that sum and done next year. If so, it will be very satisfactory in both senses -in the work being carried out so well in a short space of time, and in the somewhat unusual circumstance that a Government estimate has not been exceeded. With regard to the New Territories, the improvement in the Kowloon-Taipo Road is very satisfactory, and I would ask the Director of Public Works to tell us when that road will be completed to the frontier, including the carriage bridge over Taipo creek. I have always urged, as your Excellency knows, the completion of the road from Taipo to the frontier, so as to link up Kowloon by a carriage and motor road with the outlying parts of the New Territory, and it seems to me that the value both from a police and a military point of view is enormous. I trust it will be completed at an early date. There are one or two smaller questions, but a very important one is the question of the development of Oli Kowloon City. There is the question of the extension of the road from Nga
199
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.