CO129-576-10 Estimates 1940 6-10-1939 - 22-10-1940 — Page 181

Enclause No 2.

201

Colonial Secretary.

Sir, I rise to propose the motion standing in my name.

On 12th October, 1939, by a Resolution of this Council the

draft estimates of expenditure for 1940/41 were referred to a Select

Committee consisting of myself, the Financial Seci etary and all unoffici al

members of this Council.

In proposing that motion the Honourable Financial Secretary

announced that it was the intention of Government to ask the Committee,

in accordance with the policy which Your Excellency had stated when

opening the debate on that day, to present its report in the form of

two budgets, namely an ordinary budget and a war budget.

At that time it was fully expected, as Your Excellency said,

that proposals for the imposition of Income Tax, the only Revenue head

in the war budget, would be sufficiently advanced by now to allow of

action to be taken on the lines indicated, but that expectation has

not been realised and the Budget which I present today as the report of

the Select Committee is substantially the one which was considered on

12th October. I am to make it clear that this departure from the

original programme is wholly on account of the shortness of time before

the opening of the new financial year and must not be taken as an

indication that Government has abandoned the scheme.

It is, however, necessary to provide at once for extra

expenditure on, for instance, the Volunteers, Maintenance of Internees,

the Censorship Department, and so on, which would have been included

in the special war budget. It is very difficult to estimate these

expenses precisely and a single sum of $1,000,000 has therefore been

included to cover them, under a new Head called Special War Expenditure.

This will in due course be transferred for accounting purposes to the

war budget if that plan is ultimately carried out.

Certain other additions have been made to the original draft

estimates of expenditure: the sum for the Auxiliary Fire Service has

been increased to $9,500 and it has been decided to proceed with the

building of the New Fire Station in Hennessy Road at a cost of

$110,000. On the other hand the additional duties recently imposed on