CO129-623-9 Estimates of Expenditure- includes a report for the year ending March 1952 1-2-1951 - 30-11-1951 — Page 128

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to His Majesty's Government in rospect of the present emergency, as details of this were not settled until after the

commencement of the financial year. In the estimate for

1951/52 a sum of $8 million has been included for this contribution but this is only a tentative figure as the actual amount still has to be negotiated in respect of the coming year, and it is bound up with local expenditure on security and defence generally. In particular, it is considered that it should be related to the large re-votes totalling $1,700,000 which it has been necessary to make under the Miscellaneous Services and Public Works Non-Recurrent Heads in respect of civil measures for defence.

The other principal increases are analysed in the paragraphs dealing with Other Charges and Special Expenditure, and it will be seen that only a small proportion can be regarded as normal oxpenditure. Thus if self-balancing items, re-votes and items resulting from the unsettled political situation are excluded, the increase in the Colony's Budget is not an alarming one.

Personal emoluments which cover basic salaries and expatriation pay only are estimated at $48,602,778 to which must be added a figure of 31 million provided under the Miscellaneous Services Head in respect of cost of living allowances. Railway cost of living allowances also amount to a further $787,680. This makes a total of 80,390,458 in respect of personal emoluments of the Government staff. salaries show a drop of approximately 100,000 as compared with the current year in spite of increments, on which a position of equilibrium has not yet quite been reached, an increase in Police personnel and the necessity to increase staff in certain other departments in connection with control measures of various kinds introduced during the year. This shows that the efforts to cut down staff, wherever this can be done without loss of efficiency, are at last beginning to show some results. In this connection a thorough comb out has been undertaken of the posts which have remained unfilled for a number of months, and there has been a saving of staff owing to the transfer of responsibility for the maintenance of all Government telecommunications work to Cable & Wireless, though to a large extent this represents a re-allocation of expenditure from prsonal emoluments to Other Charges.

Other Charges for 1951/52 excluding Public Works Non-Recurrent and Special Expenditure, and also cost of living allowances, total $87,574,145, representing an increase of $6 million over the figure of $81,655,470 for the year which is just closing. The Public Works Non-Recurrent programme is more extensive than was the case during the current year, and it is estimated to cost $34,478,887 or $5 million more.

The increase under Other Charges mainly occurs under seven Heads, but these are partly offset by reductions under other Heads. $2 million of the incroase is in respect of additional charges for the conveyance of mails due to greater quantities of transit mail passing through Hong Kong.

This is offset by receipts on the revenue side. Then there are increases of $12 million under the Subventions Head in respect of grants to vernacular schools, 11 million under Police Other Charges, and over $2 million under Medical Other Charges. Under the Public Works Department Head, Other