HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
133
as they are prepared to bear whatever burden the successful conduct of the war may impose upon them, so we also must leave nothing undone that we can do towards that end. In other words, this is every whit as much our war as it is Britain's.
It is in accordance with that principle that the financial proposals that will be placed before you at this session have been framed and I take this early opportunity of saying that they are not to be looked upon as the maximum demand that may be made on the local taxpayer before victory crowns our arms: They are, however, all that we can wisely do at the moment. With this object in view it is Government's intention to replace the budget which is formally before you to-day by two separate budgets: the former will provide for the normal expenditure of Government departments, the latter is designed to fulfil our obligations as a member of the British Empire while engaged in a major war.
It may surprise you that what I will describe as the ordinary budget does not shew greater reductions in expenditure. The estimates, of course, were fairly well advanced when war broke out and early in September we were in the act of considering the extent to which they should be cut down when I received from the Secretary of State some very valuable guidance. In effect Mr. MacDonald's counsel was that, subject to two provisos of which I will make mention later, there should be as little disturbance as possible with the Colony's current activities and developmental schemes, so long as revenue to finance them would be forthcoming. In particular the desire was expressed that existing social services and approved plans for their extension should continue as far as was possible; furthermore any marked retrenchment in the Civil Service was deprecated unless and until we were advised by him so to act.
It will be agreed, I think, that this confident policy, which unquestionably reflects that of His Majesty's Government, is very enheartening at such a time as the present.
The Secretary of State's two provisos, which I mentioned just now as being conditions to be observed in framing the estimates, dealt with the following points. Firstly, the great importance of conserving the exchange resources of Great Britain through control over the purchase and export of foreign currencies and of those British currencies which are not on a sterling footing. Hong Kong's precedure in this respect, it was found, could not be quite "on all fours" with that of other British Colonies because of the predominating importance of our entrepot trade, and special treatment of the problem was therefore permitted to us. I have asked the Honourable the Financial Secretary to give the Council a connected account of the measures taken by Government with this end in view, and I myself shall have a further word to say on this subject when speaking of the revenue estimates. The second point on which the Secretary of State expressed a proviso was the avoidance of expenditure which, by creating a demand for
211
Page 190Page 191
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.