C. S.
M.F. 237.)
the view to obtaining tenders at Hom should go by the next mail. There is every reason, therefore, to believe the work can be started as soon as it is physically possible for the plant to arrive in Colony.
the
I now pass to the matter of the Marine Survey Staff.
The views of the Chamber of Commerce as to the desirability of the additional staff being re- cruited on a temporary basis were shared by the Government and communicated to the Board of Trade through the Colonial Office; but the Board appears to have found them impracticable.
It must be remembered that it is essential that trained men shall be on hand in the Colony as soon as. possible, and it is only to be expected that such men will hesitate to fall out of the running at home in order to take up the posts with uncertain prospects in Hongkong. I shall have more to say on the converse of this pro- position in my next section.
As to the training of Marine Surveyors after recruitment, I refer my honourable friend to the reply already given
on page 184 | of the Hansard volume for 1931. Whenever it has been possible to find fully trained men willing to transfer to the service of Colony we have accepted them eagerly, but such cases have been few and we have had to accept the cost of training as part of the price of bringing this port up to full Board of Trade requirements.
Magazine Gap Road.
im-
As regards the use of the proved Magazine Gap Road, it is the intention of the Government that, apart from trademen's vans and lorries carrying goods to the houses en route, the road shall be kept for passenger traffic.
Preferential Duties.
a
In the matter of the admission of Hongkong manufacturers to preferential duties in the United Kingdom I am glad to be able to say that it is believed that method of certification satisfac- tory both to local manufacturers authorities and to the Customs has now been arranged. Details of the procedure have been com- municated to the Chamber of Com-
merce.
Next are the comments of my honourable friend the senior Chi- nese Member, and before I deal with them I must thank him for the generous terms in which he has received my maiden venture. I need not remind him that in learn- ing alphabets the skill and patience of the tutor count for more than the capacity of the pupil.
I again express my sympathy with the speaker and those whom he represents over the impending retirement of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, but I fear I can hold out no hope that he will change his mind.
(11)
Juvenile Courts.
It is expected that the Juvenile Courts will be in operation very shortly. At first the proclamation putting the Ordinance into effect was held back while certain criticisms made by the Secretary of State were met. The delay has been mainly due to the difficulty experienced in securing suitable Probation Officers byt this difficulty has now been over-
come.
"Omnibus" Heads.
The only other point of detail that falls to me is the matter of the "Omnibus" heads. The objec- tion that Mr. Halifax and I have raised to the new system is not that it involves extra work but that it does not achieve the object with which it was instituted, namely to give Legislature a more accurate view of the cost of each department.
Comparative figures over a series of years will show quite ficti- tious fluctuations due to the fact that it is only possible to frame the estimates for a given year on the position as it exists in the mid- dle of the previous year. We know from bitter experience that the best laid programmes for com- ing leave seasons never can work out as planned, but the deviations which unforeseeable casualties
will impose are not calculable even by the law of averages.
We know that the odds against the figures we set down proving correct in the event are great, but these figures are at least a fixed point and we take that rather than embark on wild guessing. It is true that after the close of a year we can calculate exactly the ex- penditure for the year in Personal Emoluments in any one Depart-
ment; but even that is useless for comparative purposes because, as I showed in my opening speech, the department has to bear, if not in that year then in another, the cost of officers on leave who may revert to it but more often will be required to serve elsewhere
on
their return and are therefore not a proper charge on that depart- ment.
Cost of Government.
As regards the general question of increased cost of administra- tion, I must remind honourable Unofficial members that the Gov- ernment of this Colony is con- tinually receiving demands from all directions including themselves, to increase its public services. We are pressed to provide new and larger schools, new and larger hospitals, new health services, new factory legislation, first class port status, larger legal staff and many other similar improvements and expansions. All these involve not only increases in technical
staff but parallel increases in secretarial and clerical staff. The best instance I can give is that just provided by the honourable member himself and so strongly supported by his colleague.
44
want
If the property owners assessment by separate flats, we shall have to treble the collection staff of the Treasury and more than treble the staff of the Asses- sor's Office.
In ordering new houses one must not forget that the straw in the bricks though low-priced still costs money. Furthermore, I would re- mind the honourable member that the exchange rates adopted for the 1926 Estimates were 1s. 8d. for sterling salaries and 2s. 2d. for other sterling charges. (Ap- plause).
GOVERNOR SPEAKS.
Sympathetic, Public Spirited Policy.
SLUM CLEARANCE.
His Excellency the Governor said: Honourable Members, the Budget has been dealt with in such detail by both Officials and Unofficials that there appears lit- tle left for me to say except as regards the general position.
In the first place, I wish to con- gratulate my honourable friend the Colonial Secretary on the clearness and lucidity of his first Budget speech, and to thank him and his officers for the great help which they have given me in the final preparation of it. I also thank the Honourable Colonial Trea- surer and Honourable Director of Public Works for their useful memoranda. Further, I wish to express my great appreciation of the work done by Mr. Grantham in connexion with the Budget. He has had a lot of spade work to do; and from my own experience, many years ago, I can appreciate the care and patience which are necessary in carrying out a work of this kind in which constant changes in items and figures almost bring a feeling of despair the officer in direct charge. Mr. Grantham has carried out duties most efficiently. I thank the Honourable Senior Chinese Member for his kindly reference to myself.
to
his
I am indebted to the honourable members for their careful con- sideration of the Budget and for their helpful comments and cri- ticisms. If we exclude certain comments which are scarcely re- levant to the Budget itself, the criticisms have been gratifyingly few. It is noteworthy and some- what unusual that some of the suggestions involve increases in staff and expenditure. That was stressed just now by the Colonial Secretary.
Disappointing.
I must confess that I found the Budget somewhat difficult and, in
2 measure, disappointing. Six
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