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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
348
35
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22nd February, 1950, were confirmed.
PAPERS.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by Command of His Excellency the Governor, laid upon the table the following
papers:
Annual Report on Hong Kong for the year 1949.
The Dogs and Cats (Amendment) Regulations, 1950. (G.N.
No. A. 34 of 1950).
The Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ord., 1936,- Order declaring Tokyo infected on account of typhus. (G.N. No. A. 36 of 1950).
The Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ord., 1936,-
Order declaring Yokohama infected on account of typhus. (G.N. No. A. 37 of 1950).
The Price Control Order, 1946,-Amendments to the
Schedule. (G.N. No. A. 38 of 1950).
The Places for Post Mortem (Amendment) Order, 1950.
(G.N. No. A. 39 of 1950).
The Merchant Shipping Ord., 1899,-Amendment to
Table R. (G.N. No. A. 40 of 1950).
The New Territories Regulation Ord., 1910, The Wo Hop
Shek Cemetery. (G.N. No. A. 41 of 1950).
The Public Health (Sanitation) Ord., 1935,-Order under
section 99. (G.N. No. A. 42 of 1950).
The Defences (Firing Areas) Ord., 1936,-Amendments to the First and Third Schedules. (G.N. No. A. 43 of 1950).
The Air Armament Practice Ord., 1949,-Amendments to the First and Third Schedules. (G.N. No. A. 44 of 1950).
The Protected Places (Amendment) Order, 1950. (G.N.
No. A. 45 of 1950).
The Summer Time Ord., 1946,-Order under section 2(1)(a).
(G.N. No. A. 46 of 1950).
The Air Navigation (Temporary Restrictions) (Amend-
ment) Regulations, 1950. (G.N. No. A. 47 of 1950). The Public Health (Sanitary Provisions) Regulations, 1948, Declaration under regulation 2(10)(a), (G.N. No. A. 48 of 1950).
The Price Control Order, 1946, Amendments to the
Schedule. (G.N. No. A. 49 of 1950).
Annual Report of the Public Relations Officer for the year
1948-49.
Annual Report of the Accountant-General for the year
ended the 31st March, 1949.
Draft Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the
year ending 31st March, 1951.
Memorandum on the Estimates for the financial year
1950/1951.
ADDRESS BY THE GOVERNOR.
H.E. THE GOVERNOR: -Honourable Members: I would invite the attention of Honourable Members to the Annual Report for the year 1949, copies of which have just been laid on the table. Much of the background and many of the facts and figures in my address are taken from this Report.
When the Appropriation Ordinance for the financial year 1949/1950 was passed twelve months ago, the surplus balance on the year's working was shown as $227,000. The Estimates of revenue and expenditure revised to date, after provision has been made for a supplementary payment which it is proposed to make to the 33% Rehabilitation Loan Sinking Fund, show a surplus of just under $58 millions. This is a very much higher level of revenue than was expected when the Estimates were framed, and is due principally to certain windfalls with which the Financial Secretary will deal, and also to the auto- matic increase in a number of revenue heads caused by the influx of population. The result is very satisfactory not only from the point of view of the Treasury, but also from the point of view of the Colony generally, for this handsome surplus is also a reflection of the excellent trade figures which are much better than seemed probable when the year started.
1948 was a record year for the Colony's trade with a total of imports and exports of $3,660 millions. That has been surpassed in 1949 with our total trade at $5,069 millions or £317 millions sterling, an increase of 38%. 23% of the trade was with China as compared with 19% in 1948. Exports to China went up from $280 millions to $585 millions and imports from $431 millions to $593 millions.
The British Empire accounted for 26% of our total trade and showed an increase of $130 millions in exports and of $217 millions in imports of 1948. The United States accounted for 16% of our trade with exports up by $82 millions and imports up by $188 millions.
The volume of trade with Japan as recorded in the Trade Returns increased by 18% from $128 millions in 1948 to $151 millions during the past year. These figures do not by any
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