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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
forgotten that a large proportion of the bathing public, are, far various reasons, without motor transport or matshed.
As regards the Star Ferry Kowloon approach road, the congestion at most times of the day is appalling and the Association have prepared and submitted to Your Excellency an elaborate scheme, which it hopes will meet with Your Excellency's approval.
I further desire, on behalf of the Kowloon Tong Residents' Associa- tion, to draw Your Excellency's attention to their request for a market, There are now 200 completed houses and the remainler will, I believe, be completed next year. This scheme provides homes for a section of our community which has a real call on our assistance, and whilst the Association appreciates the very substantial sums budgeted for the coming year in favour of Kowloon Tong, a market will be a great boon to them.
In conclusion, may I express the desire on behalf of my brother Justices of the Peace whom I have the honour to represent that a new cycle of prosperity is now before us and that the future has in store the old cordial and friendly relations with the neighbouring provinces of China and her people, which must redound to the mutual benefit of all, and go a long way to assist in the all round commercial prosperity. (Applause.)
HON. MR. R. H. KOTEWALL said-Sir,-The task of presenting the views of the Chinese community on the Budget has fallen on me this year, and my senior Chinese colleague desires me to say that he associates himself with all the views and sentiments I am about to
express.
C
Arising out of the item Assessed Taxes" which appears on page 6 of the draft Estimates, I beg to bring to Your Excellency's notice an anomaly which exists in the present method of valuation under the Rating Ordinance. This is to be seen in, some cases in which the owner of a partially occupied house has to pay a larger sum for the rates for one quarter than the rents he receives for one month. The payment for rates is altogether out of proportion to the rents received; and I submit that the Ordinance should be so amended as to give the Assessor discretionary power, which he has not at present, to make a special valuation in these cases. Happily, such cases are few, but where they exist, they constitute an obvious injustice.
*
The item " Public School Fees' on page 9 shows an increase of $67,000. When commenting upon this increase in his speech at the last meeting of this Council, the Hon. Colonial Secretary charac- terised it as a small increase," and said that it could not be considered a serious burden. I agree that the sum is small when it is spread over the whole population, or when it is compared with the amount spent on education by the Government. But to those indivi- duals who have children to educate, particularly to those of the working classes earning from $30 to $100 a month, the additional fee
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