267
6.
failing in its duty if it did not contemplate in advance the steps that will have to be taken in 1936 if there should either be a sharp drop in the dollar rate or a serious decline
in revenue, or possibly both. As I have said, no additional taxation has been imposed in the existing circumstances; but it is as well that a warning should now be given that this may be necessary if the state of the public finances in 1936
should show serious deterioration. It is also desirable that a warning should be given that a temporary levy on all Government salaries, both dollar and sterling, may be neces- sary before the end of 1936 in the circumstances referred to, and that the Secretary of State has already given his sanction to action on these lines. It is unnecessary at the moment to go into the details of proposals which will only be required in the event of a contingency which we hope will not arise.
I pass on now to a more detailed examination of the
printed Estimates before us, The lucid memorandum of my Hon. friend the Colonial Treasurer not only sets out the financial position of the Colony but also relieves me of much of the duty of explaining in detail the various increases and decreases (mostly the latter) in the various heads of revenue. The increase in "Medical Examination of Emigrants" under Head 4 on page 8 is a gratifying sign of improved trade conditions in Malaya in which our shipping interests no doubt share. The Railway after several years of prosperity now shows a decrease in spite of every endeavour on the part of its Manager. Nearly half of the decrease, however, is to be attributed to the fact that the three express locomotives ordered for the Chinese section and at present run by the
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