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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
motor-cars and motor-cycles from the area adjacent to the Star Ferry Pier.
As regards the disorderly houses mentioned by the honourable member the matter will be referred to the Captain Superintendent of Police who will be requested to take such steps as may be possible to abate any nuisance. The Captain Superintendent will be ready at any time to investigate any specific complaint which may be brought to his notice.
The question of clothing the nakedness of the Kowloon hills with trees is not a new one. It will be referred to the Botanical and Forestry Department but I am not very hopeful as to the result.
As regards band concerts in Kowloon, and for that matter in Victoria also, it was intended to provide a sum of $1,200 in the Estimates but the item was inadvertently omitted from the print. The Government will be prepared to propose a special vote for this service early next year.
With your own remarks to follow, Sir, the ground of the unofficial members' criticisms will, I think, have been covered and I trust honourable members will be satisfied that the Government has recognized the seriousness of their criticisms and has answered them as fully as the short time available has permitted. We can- not all see eye to eye in matters of detail but we are at one in general principles and remembering that we are all united in our desires for the prosperity and well-being of Hong Kong, I hope that unofficial members will find themselves able to accept the Budget now presented. (Applause.)
H.E. THE GOVERNOR.--Gentlemen,-I am very grateful, both to the official and to the unofficial members of this Council, for the care and attention which has been given to the preparation and scrutiny of next year's budget. More especially I thank my honour- able friends, the Colonial Secretary and the senior unofficial member, upon whose shoulders has fallen the chief burden of debate. The criticisms made by the unofficial members have been most helpful; and, where any difference in opinion exists between the Government and the unofficials, it is at bottom usually a question of the priority to be accorded to various projects, which we all of us recognize as desirable in the interests of the Colony.
The Colonial Secretary and other members of the Government have already dealt with most of the matters, mentioned in speeches made by unofficial members at the last meeting of this Council; but there remain a few points on which I wish to address you myself.
First of all, and most important of all, is the subject of the water supply. The unofficial members have unanimously pressed upon my Government the importance of expediting the construction of
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