THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 4TH JUNE, 1881.
389*
Now, does Hongkong fulfil the object for which it was established? That I need hardly ask you, gentlemen, after the brief resumé I have given you of our census returns. But it has sometimes been discussed what the object of this Colony is, and in my time I have heard it said that it is a military object, or a naval object-I have generally been of opinion myself it was commercial-but I find on referring to a despatch of the Secretary of State to Sir JOHN DAVIS, where this question was raised, that there it is briefly and clearly laid down for what object this Colony was really established, Sir JOHN DAVIS had to forward to Her Majesty's Government a memorial from the foreign merchants complaining of the taxation of Hongkong. They represented that Hongkong had been established, as they thought, for military objects in China, and, on that account, they begged the Imperial Govern- ment would undertake to pay for the cost of the establishments, and that they themselves should be relieved from taxes. The Secretary of State who had to decide this question was a man of great ability. It was in the year 1846. He was then a young man, but he evidently gave due attention to the subject, and, having reviewed the whole question, he expresses his opinion that the occupation of Hongkong was decided on solely and exclusively with a view to commercial interests; and, in a word, his despatch said it was established in the interests of trade alone, and that the traders naturally should pay the expenses of the Colony. I find that this same Secretary of State had in a previous despatch requested the Governor to have land sales in the town of Victoria at which none but Chinese could bid. Representations came from the Governor, either Sir HENRY POTTINGER or Sir JOHN DAVIS,-that there was a certain class of Chinese who would be peculiarly suitable for commercial operations, but that, owing to land jobbers, they could not compete at the land auctions in Hongkong, and therefore the Secretary of State took the rather strong course of saying there should be some land sales at which none but Chinese could bid. Well, he incurred a little local criticism for doing that, but when this despatch of his was published laying down the purely commercial objects of Hongkong, and. stating that the Colony should pay for itself, the newspapers then printed here commented on it in these terms:- "The answer of Mr. GLADSTONE is universally regarded by everyone with whom we "have conversed since it was published, as sealing the fate of Hongkong. We do not believe it will be met by any violent recrimination or outcry, but the disgust it has excited is such as will not be speedily "eradicated. What little trade we ever possessed here has been all but extinguished." Well, a gener- ation has passed since that criticism was published in the Colony, but I am bound to say, every year since then has justified Mr. GLADSTONE'S policy; and, at this moment, we are in a Colony whose commercial prosperity is perhaps unrivalled. Who now will venture to say that he was not right to encourage the Chinese to buy land and settle in Hongkong? Who now will differ with Mr. GLADSTONE as to the true character and object of this Colony?
Now, there is one aspect of this progress and prosperity which concerns us as a legislative body dealing with financial matters, and it is this,--that as the Colony makes progress, the revenue should improve without the imposition of any new taxes. That has also taken place. The revenue and expenditure of this Colony for the last three years were as follows:--In round numbers, the revenue in 1878 was £197,000; in 1879, £200,000; in 1880 it reached £222,000. The expenditure for each of these years respectively was, for 1878, £189,000; for 1879, £193,000; for 1880, £197,000. The expenditure was therefore kept, I think prudently, within the revenue. The valuators' returns for ten years past, recently laid before you, show that the valuation of house property fluctuated but little from 1871 to 1876, but that it rose steadily with the influx of Chinese in 1877, and has continued to increase. Hence the house taxes, which were at the same rate (12 per cent) in 1876 and in 1880, produced in these years respectively, £38,439, and £48,032. The opium farm also rose from £27,500 in 1876 to £42,708 in 1880. The other chief items of our revenue are stamps, postage, taxes on shipping, and certain licences, as well as various fees under the emigration and shipping ordinances. At a first glance, our taxation appears a little unfair, but in an Oriental community like this, I think it would be impossible to have it otherwise than it is. The opium farm falls exclusively on Chinese. the other hand, the spirit licences, and certain items under the Stamp Ordinance, probably fall more, in On proportion to their small numbers, on the Europeans; but, upon the whole, I am of opinion, and I am sure you will agree with me, that we are very lightly taxed. Hongkong is a free port; we have no income tax; we have no public debt, and we have a moderate surplus,-less than one year's income. For that revenue, which, as I say, has been a growing revenue for some years past, and that without the imposition of any additional taxation--for that revenue, what has the Government done? We have kept up, I think, an efficient police force, and there has been no stinting of money in those ordinary functions of Government represented by the various services and establishments of the Colony. Whatever has been required for getting the Supreme Court into that working order which the Chief Justice and His Honour the Acting Chief Justice urged.over and over again upon successive Governors as being necessary, has now been provided. It has involved a little expense with respect to interpretation and other points. The vote for public instruction is now larger than ever it was so is the vote for medical and sanitary purposes. I have added a new branch to the Harbour Department, the Surveyorship under our Merchant Shipping Ordinance of 1879. Instead of $700 a year as in 1877, we now spend $10,000 a year in tree planting. In short, I don't think anything absolutely needed for the wants of the Colony has been neglected. I am bound to say, that during the four years of my Government of the Colony, whenever this Council has met I have been only too anxious to receive from my honourable friends any suggestions either with respect to prudent retrenchment or to any necessary outlay. And during these four years, there has not occurred one single division in Council
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