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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 24TH NOVEMBER, 1877.
HIS EXCELLENCY then says:-Gentlemen, it becomes my duty to lay upon the table the Estimates for the year 1878, and, in doing so, I have first to draw your attention to the financial statement which was placed in my hands immediately on my arrival in the Colony in April last. This is the return of the expenditure of the Colony for 1876, which is dated the 4th April, 1877, and was issued from the Colonial Secretary's Office on the 13th April. As you are aware, this return contains the last complete statement of any one year's financial transactions of the Colony, and on my arrival my attention was at once drawn to this important document by the Colonial Secretary, Mr. GARDINER AUSTIN. I found on examining it that the revenue of the year 1876 had amounted to $885,308, whereas the expenditure of the same year had amounted to $902,500. More than that, whilst the revenue of 1876 was less than the expenditure of that year, it was also less than the revenue of the preceding year, and whilst the expenditure of 1876 was in excess of the revenue, it was also in excess of the expenditure of the preceding year; or, in other words, the authentic figures placed in my hands, showed that the revenue of the Colony was declining, that the expenditure was increasing, and had passed beyond the revenue, being something like $17,000 in excess of the revenue. Now, how was that $17,000 paid? The $17,000 came out of the balance in the Colonial chest. The balance in the Colonial chest when the estimates were framed, and at the end of 1876 amounted to $134,297. There is no doubt that was a very respectable balance to have in the chest, and when my predecessor framed estimates which enabled him to draw only so small a sum as $17,000 from it, every one must feel that his estimates were safe and prudent. However that may be, it was my duty, having to face a financial condition such as this, to look very carefully at both sides of the balance-sheet of the Colony, to endeavour on the one hand to stimulate the revenue, and on the other to carefully watch the expenditure. In a Colony such as this, a Crown Colony, the real responsibility devolves upon the representative of the Crown. The Governor is expected by his instructions to look most carefully into the expenditure of the Colony, to watch it month by month, and under the Treasury regulations which give him that authority and impose the duty upon him, it is laid down that as early in each month as the expenditure for the ensuing month can be seen with sufficient accuracy, the Heads of Departments are to draw up a requisition, in accordance with the classified list of heads in the estimates, to be laid before the Governor for his sanction, and if the Governor sanction it, a letter is written to the Head of the Department to that effect. Such throughout the Colonial Empire is the manner in which the expenditure is watched by the Governor under the Treasury instructions. On the 25th May, I made a minute that I did not see that the Treasury instructions in this respect were complied with in this Colony. On the 25th May, I received requisitions for expenditure incurred in the month of May by various Heads of Departments. What was the use of putting them before me on the 25th May? The expenditure had taken place, and I had no power of checking it if I thought it necessary to do so. Accordingly, I inquired how it came to happen that the requisitions did not come before the Governor in the time laid down in the Treasury instructions, and then I found it had been the practice for some years to send in the requisition for expenditure near the end of the month in which it had been incurred. The formality was gone through with great strictness for the Governor to approve of such requisitions; after that, a letter was written to the Heads of Departments informing them they were at liberty to incur the expenditure, which, practically, had been already incurred. Of course it may occur to some of you that the Heads of Departments are responsible officers, and that whatever Treasury instructions may say, Heads of Departments will be themselves responsible. That is a very good argument as applying to Colonies with responsible Governments; there the Heads of Departments are responsible, but in a Crown Colony, it is different; the Governor is expected to look carefully into the expenditure, to check it if necessary, and to stop improper expenditure. Well, it will not require much exertion, it will not be a difficult thing, for Heads of Departments to comply with my wishes in that respect, and work the requisitions in accordance with the Treasury instructions. It does not follow that the Governor is bound every month to cut down the requisitions which come before him. As you all know, the very power of cutting them down and the fact of the Governor's looking after these matters in good time from month to month will often operate to check what may be needless expenditure.
With respect to the question of revenue, I have been extremely anxious to ascertain how far the revenue we have been receiving in the Colony is a healthy revenue, and how far it may be developed, if necessary, without imposing. any further taxation on the Colony. Now, to take the item as they stand in the estimates laid before you, you will find our first item is the land revenue. I estimate that for the year 1878 at $200,000. The actual sum collected in the first nine months of the present year under that head was $194,000. We expect to get a sum in the three subsequent months which will raise the total to considerably over $200,000, but in making my estimate for the next year, I have confined it to the $200,000, and I do it with the assurance of the Surveyor-General that that sum is well within the mark. I must attribute the sound state of that revenue to the admirable administration of the Department presided over by my Honourable friend the Surveyor General, Mr. PRICE. The improvements at the other side of the harbour, and the drainage, the many useful works he has in hand, and the good sites he has laid out for buildings along the new roads he has constructed, have no doubt in a most healthy manner stimulated the prosperity of the Colony and helped to give us this increasing income. The next item is rents exclusive of land. I estimate that at a few thousand dollars less than actually received in 1876. It then reached $61,446. I estimate it for next year at $58,000, but it will probably reach larger figure. I now come to the licences. Of these licences, the important ones
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