6606
59
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
states in a minute addressed to Dr. John- | Government, is that its minutest investi- Bon under date the 10th October:-"Igation has failed to reveal any sin of have in all instances in which drugs ask- ed for were not supplied accepted your ruling, and have not made a protest."
I do not think that I can usefully add anything further. Indents have been minutely, I may almost say meticulously, examined, by the assistant Colonial Secretary principally, amounts have been added and subtracted totals have been checked; and in the result not even a "ridiculous mus has emerged.
The following figures, however, regard | ing the principal reductions made by Dr. Johnson in the indent of the autumn of 1913, may be of interest to hon, mem- bers: ---
Article.
Boracic Acid
(.) Ether
Bismuth Salicylate.
Do.
Suloitrate
(r.) Potassium Iodide
Quinine
used in Amount
1011, 1012, 1013
Average
Stock at Date of Indent.
Amount asked for.
Amount allowe.l
by Dr. Joht son.
omission in the manner of the adminis- tration of the Civil Hospital drugs and disinfectants by Dr. Johnson; that on the contrary it is satisfied that Dr. John- son has gradually succeeded in compelling systematic and efficient store administra- tion in place of a lack of system little short of scandalous; that it is satisfied that, in any sense of ill-considered re- duction, the stock of drugs and disinfect- ants kept in store at the Government Civil Hospital was not reduced by the present Principal Civil Medical Officer before the war.
Mr. Pollock's Questions
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY--I re- gret to inform the Hon. member (Mr. Pollock) that the time occupied in pre- paring the statement just read by His Excellency was 50 great that it has been impossible to complete the replies to the questions standing in the 230 112 hon. member's name in the "Orders of the Day. Some of them have been com-
$2="8
*****
3 *** = 29
8
25
0
2
10 piled, but it has been impossible to com-
plete them.
1bs.
831
30
4
96
0
0%.
2,060 2,500 1,500 800
lbs.
Acid Acetosal (Aspirin)
13
30
0
Oreosote Carbonate
7
14
0
The questions referred follows:--
to
were 25
Glycerine
485
501
36 112
OZ.
(4.) Migrainiue
49
86
50
Iba
Eucalyptus Oil
27
5+
Q
Oleum Ric. E. I. Opt. Castor Oil
364
200
gallons.
(c) Turpentine
133
195
200 200 210 200 50
0
Carbolated Creosote (Jeyes Fluid)..
1.--Of the sums of $9,905, $10,147, and
o $9,714 stated at the last meeting of Coun-
cil to have been expended in the years
440 220 1913, 1914 and 1915, respectively, will the
Government state
Notes:-(a) It must be remembered that the indent
was intended to cover a shorter period than had previously been the rase.
(b) With regard to ether Dr. Johnson reduced the requisition from 50 lbs. to
25 lbs., but at the same time he allow
ed 100 lbs. of chloroform although) only 75 lbs. had been asked for. (e) The 84 lbs. of potassium iodide and the 200 gallons of turpentine disallow- ed by Dr. Johnson represented a saving of £5 and £30 respectively, exclusive of Crown Agents' and ship- ping charges.
(i)-How much of that expenditure
represents drugs and disinfectants.
(a) supplied from home; (b) purchased locally?
(ii). Whether it is not the fact that the price of drugs and disinfectants has gone up considerably since the beginning of the war, with the re- sult that the same sum of money purchased considerably less drugs and disinfectants since the war than it did before the war? Whether any savings were effected on the amounts voted for drugs and disinfectants in the years 1914 and 1915 or either of them, and, if so, what were the amounts of such savings?
(d) Dr. Johnson did not think fit to order (iii).
any migrainine.
some
It may be that some drug, or disinfectant has got through the net so carefully set to entrap it; the hon. mem- ber may be aware of something which the Government has failed to find; and, if so, I hope that he will bring it into the light of day. The hospital indents are all open to his scrutiny, if this will assist him. The reply then, of the
2. With reference to the morning allo cation of Sisters at the Civil Hospital which was announced by His Excellency the Governor at the Council Meeting of the 3rd August last, namely:-
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
A Block.
Morning, 1 Sister on each floor; Operating Theatre, 1 Sister; will t'e Government state
(1).--On what dates between the 22nd August and the date of these Questions (12th October) it has been found possible to carry out the said intended morning scheme of allocation, namely, 1 Sister on each floor of A Block, and a separ- ate Sister for the Operating Theatre; and
(ii). On what dates, between the said dates, one Sister alone has had to attend in the morning not only to the two floors in 4 Block but also to the Operating Theatre as well, that is to say, to do work which, under the above scheme of allocation, is supposed to be done by three Sisters.
The Recent Petition
HON. MR. POLLOCK --SIR, I beg to give notice that I shall put the following questions at the next meeting of the Legislative Council, namely:--
1. With reference to the following statements in paragraph 5 of the Des- patch of H. E. The Governor, of the 26th May, 1916, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on the subject of the recent Petition for greater representation of the public on the Executive and Legislative Councils, namely:" It is quite imprac- ticable to apply the principle of election to appointments to a body like the Execu- tive Council and it does not seem neces- sary to set out the very obvious reasons for which such a proposal could not be entertained ": Will the Government state what are the reasons why such a proposal could not be entertained?
2. Will the Government also state for what reasons two out of the four non- Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legis- lative Council are Government nominees instead of being elected as Members? I will now hand a copy of my questions to the Clerk of Councils.
The Budget
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to apply a sum not exceeding eight millions six hundred and five thou-
sand, one hundred and five dollars to the Public Service of the year 1917, for the following purposes:-
Expenditure
Governor Colonial Secretary's Depart-
ment and Legislature Colonial Secretary's Special
Expenditure Secretariat for Chinese 'Affairs Audit Department Treasury
Harbour Master's Department Harbour Master, Special Ex-
penditure
Imports and Exports Depart-
ment
.$ 85,011
79,169
1,150
57,345
35,294
67,460
189,454
740
977,999 22,750
6,100 714,213 272,478
Royal Observatory Royal Observatory, Special Ex-
penditure Miscellaneous Services Judicial and Legal Depts. Police and Prison Departments 1,000,361 Police and Prison Departments,
Special Expenditure Medical Department Sanitary Department Sanitary Department, Special
Expenditure
Botanical and Forestry Dept. Botanical and Forestry Depart- ment, Special Expenditure Education Education, Special Expenditure Military Expenditure:
Volunteers Public Works:-
Public Works Dept. Public Works, Recurrent Public Works, Extraordi-
nary
Post Office Post Office, Special Expenditure Kowloon-Canton Railway:
Working Expenses Special Expenditure Pensions Charitable Services
Total
134
264,030
381,899
39,000 51,338
650
338,011
1,900
70,152
464,981
589,200
1,545.400 438,350
400
366,381
158,896
340,700
44, 159
.$8,605,105
HIS EXCELLENCY said:-Honourable Members of the Legislative Council.-I think that you will agree that the finan- cial position disclosed by the Estimates before you must be regarded as eminently satisfactory. The assets and liabilities of the Colony at the end of the year 1915 were presented in a new form. and, as has been already pointed out, they are now on a cash basis. The result of abandon- ing the proposed loan of £250,000, which had appeared as an asset, and debiting
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