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constituted as separate subsections in a single department of the Government distinctly outside the sphere of activities of the Fort Trust. Mr. Colman said that, even if it were considered necessary to place the Surveyor of Ships' Department and the Shipping Master's Department under one head, he considered that such a post was not sufficiently important to warrant the appointment of Commander Jolly. Mr. Wurtzburg said that apart from the questien of whether the post was a suitable one for Commander Jolly, he considered that it was important that a sui tably qualified person be appointed in charge of the Government Marine Department and he wished to emphasise that in his opinion the person appointed to this post should be one with practical experience of applying the "Board of Trade" regulations and that it should nomally be regarded as a civilian appointment to be filled on the advice and recommendation of the Board of Trade.
In reply to questions, Mr. Colman said that in his opinion the appointment of a Deputy Chairmen or a General Manager in addition to a Fort Officer would necessitate an addition to the establishment which would not be justified, at any rate in the early stages, as the Port Trust was not intended to operate the port's facilities; and he would hope that Commander Jolly would accept the post of Port Officeţin charge
of those of the Harbour Master's functions taken over by the Fort Trust: it was an important post calling for enthusiasm, technical kuowledge and ability of high order. The Meeting agreed that the limited scope of the intended activitios of the Port Trust did not warrant the appointment of a full time deputy Chairman or General Manager in addition to the administrative staff so fer considered necessary.
3. Allocation of the Harbour Master's functions.
Mr. Colmar. was asked for his views on the Kemorandus on the re- allocation of the Harbour Master's functions which had been considered by the Committee. Ho said he agreed generally with the allocation suggested and that the "Board of Trade" functions should be dealt with by a Government.Department, or departments, quite distinòt from the Port Trust He thought, however, that the Port Trust should take over the Yaumati Slipway so as to enable it to carry out surveys of launches and to maintain the Fort Trust craft. The Fort Trust could then service, on repayment terms, the rest of the Goverment small craft. He mentioned that this suggestion was supported by the Harbour Haster,
It was generally agreed that as thig would avoid the accessity of both the Government and the Port Trust having separate installations, it would probably be a mutually satisfactory arrangement. In the course of discussion, the view was expressed that the consequential reconstitution of the Marine Court could easily be brought into effect by the Law Offiners of the Crom in Hong Kong, and that, although it would not be desirable for the Post Officer of the Trust to act as a Marine Magistrate, there would not appear to be any objection to his being appointed a marine ascessor when nocessary,
دسية
Port Engineor,
Mr. Colman said that he considered that the Trust should have a Port Engineer's Department to carry out maintenance and development work and that this department of the Trust should carry out, by arrangement with the Goverment, reclamation schemes. He also said that he hoped that Mr. Nicol, who, the Chairman renorked, was a very experienced port engineer with knowlege of methods employed in other countries including America, would join the Trust as its Fort Engineer.
Mr. Lang thought that the Trust's Fort Engineer's Department should be concerned with maintenance work only and that, as development and reclamation schemes were part of Government policy, these should be the subject of budgetted expenditure voted by Legislative Council and should be carried out by the Fublic Works Department. The Chairman also expressed doubts about the desirability of the Fort Trust as a separn te Pinancial entity being responsible for capital expenditure. After some
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