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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
the departments concerned. The wells opened during the recent crisis have yielded results both material and psychological, which fully justified that policy.
Your Excellency, in your masterly review of the Colony's Water- works, mentioned the possibility of abolishing the Rider-main sys- tem. If we do not take up this question to-day, we hope that it will not be thought that we acquiesce in the abolition. As a matter of fact, our mind is not made up, because we have not the facts before us to enable us to do so. We would like to have time to ascertain public opinion, and we ask that before the Government actually makes its decision it will give us full opportunity to debate the matter.
From individual items I now turn to certain general features of the draft Estimates-the financial side of the Budget, and the method of its preparation. In making our remarks we do so in no carping spirit, but with the sole object of assisting the Government with some constructive suggestions.
In the draft Estimates the totals of Other Charges and Special Expenditure are not shown separately, as they had been invariably shown until a few years ago. If anyone now desires to ascertain this information, he will have to make the calculation himself.
Again, until a few years ago, each department showed its own expenditure in a comprehensive form, that is, all expenditure ap- pertaining to any one department was shown under that depart- ment. In the Estimates of the last two or three years this has not been the case. For example, if we turn to the first department under Estimates of Expenditure-the Colonial Secretary's Office-we find that the salaries of the Assistant Colonial Secretaries and of the junior clerks are not given under that head but are placed under "Cadet Service," "Senior Clerical and Accounting Staff," and "Junior Clerical Service." This means that if one desires to find the total expenditure of a given department one has to look up no fewer than four different heads and two appendices, before one can arrive at the result.
We remember that when the 1926 Estimates were introduced, His Excellency Sir Edward Stubbs gave explanations for grouping all clerks under one head (see page 80 of Hansard 1925); but the unofficial members, not being quite enamoured of the innovation, expressed the following views (to be found on page 91 of the same Hansard) through their spokesman the late Hon. Mr. P. H. Holyoak: "We note for the first time that all junior clerks now come under the definite heading of Junior Clerical Service. Whilst appreciating the explanation that this has been done for the sake of economy in time and labour, we are not fully satisfied that it is not prefer- able to debit these salaries to the various departments concerned,
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