Sessional_Paper_1894 — Page 8

4.

HONGKONG POST OFFICE.

Will the Government lay upon the table a statement shewing the gross income, and the gross expenditure of the Post Office for the years 1890, 1891, 1892 and 1893, separately, and any liability still qutstanding connected with those years, also separately.

POST OFFICE, TREASURY, COURT HOUSE, LAND OFFICE, &C.

Will Government procure and lay upon the table an estimate of what money these premises would probably realise if exposed to auction, and what would be the probable cost of erecting a suitable Post Office, and Court House, including a Land Office, &c., on Government ground on the new Praya Reclamation.

OPIUM ORDINANCES.

Will the Government lay upon the table a copy of the Petition, dated 12th December, 1893, to The Right Honourable The Marquis of Ripon, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, from the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steam-boat Company, Limited, and the China Steam Navigation Company, Limited, praying for Government assistance in their efforts to suppress smuggling on board their steam-ships by causing such amendments to be made in the Hongkong law as may be thought necessary and effectual, &c., fe., and a copy of any reply which may have been received thereto.

CROWN AGENTS.

In view of the West Indian Colonies, including British Honduras and British Guiana, having recently passed Resolutions through their Legislatures condemning the Crown Agency system as an expensive and wasteful medium for the transaction of their business, and as a like feeling obtains amongst a large number of ratepayers in this Colony, will the Government lay upon the table at the earliest possible date, a copy of the Parliamentary Paper C. 3075 of 1881, which is said to contain full information as to the arrangements existing between the Colonial Office, and the Crown Agents.

PÓ LEUNG KUK.

Will the Government lay upon the table a copy of the Despatch No. 204 of 22nd December last, from the Right Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, in connection with my Memorial, dated 27th June, 1893, praying His Lordship to return Ordinance No. 10 of 1893 to Hongkong for amendment in the directions indicated therein, and to recommend to the Colonial Government, either to remove the Registrar General from the governing body of the Pỏ Léung Kuk, or to invest him with powers adequate to his duties and responsibilities to the Women and Girls under his care, under Ordinance No. 11 of 1890.

FINANCES.

Will the Government inform the Council,

(1) What moneys were expended by the Crown Agents in England, on account of the

Colony, during 1893,

(2) How much of these were defrayed out of the proceeds of the Colony's recent Gold

Loan,

(3) What amount, if any, of our revenue during 1893 has been remitted to, or drawn for by the Crown Agents, from the Colony, to defray their expenses, and the rates of exchange, if any,

(4) Have any moneys derived either from revenue in 1893, or from Supreme Court, or Reclamation Deposits, been remitted to England, or withdrawn from the Colony during the past nine months, for any purpose other than to defray necessary expenditure in England on account of the Colony.

(5) If so, what amount, from what funds derived, at what rates of exchange remitted, how employed in England, and at what rates of interest, under what authority have such remittances been made, and for what reasons,

and (6) What amount of the Colonial Government's funds now remain in England, how much thereof is derived from revenue, how much from deposits, and how much from the proceeds of the recent Gold Loan.

QUESTIONS.—Mr. CHATER, with His Excellency's permission, asked the following questions

1. Has any portion of the new Gold Loan been remitted to the Colony, or drawn for, and if so,

at what rate of exchange?

2. Has any answer been received from the Secretary of State to the Governor's despatch recom-

mending a reduction of the Military Contribution?

3. Has anything been done to give effect to the recommendation of the Un-official Members of Council that the amount of the Military Contribution be fixed in dollars and at the rate at which the first instalment was paid when the contribution was raised from £20,000 to £40,000?

The Colonial Secretary replied.