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these anomalies giving Hongkong room to expand, and more than all preventing the passing into other hands of the roads of Lantau, and the spacious harbour of Mirs Bay. Much interest is naturally felt in Hongkong as to the position of the stations of the Maritime Customs. It seems to me only just and necessary that these should recede with the new boundary, for it would be an abdication of sovereignty if a Foreign Power were allowed to exercise control within British waters. At the same time I recognise that it is right that we should aid the friendly Government of China in her task of protecting her revenue, made so difficult by the indented nature of the coast line, and to this end I have suggested that opium should be stored in Government godowns, and only issued on Government permit. In legislation much useful but unobstrusive work has been done. I may instance The Trade Marks Ordinance, The Liquor Licences Ordinance, The Bank Note Ordinance. The increased issue of Bank notes has, from causes well known to you all, been long demanded and the enlarged circulation is proving a great boon. The Queen's Recreation Ground Ordinance. In the last I have taken great interest, and I have some right to look upon it as a bantling of my own. The recurrence of the plague has forced on every thinking man the need of letting light and air into the blocks of Chinese houses, which, full of human beings in many cases, literally stand back to back in the City of Victoria, containing rooms into which the sun never enters, and where the fetid air has no motion. Doctors and physic, good though they be by themselves, are powerless to cure, while sun and air are a sure preventive; and great as the task may be of bringing these natural agents into this reeking mass of humanity their admission must be secured by law. A Bill is now before you which I admit does not go far enough, but it will at least be the beginning of a great reform. Many complaints have been made as to the shortcomings of the Post Office; a great deal of the confusion comes from retrenchment having been carried too far, and from the business having outgrown the building. I have submitted recommendations to the Secretary of State which will, I trust, produce great improvement in the department, in whose well-being every individual is concerned. Nearly allied to the Queen's Recreation Ground is the reservation of the rocky bluff on which stands the boulders called Sung Wan Toi, or the " Watch Towers of the Sung, which, as far as I can gather, is the only historical nonument which links modern history with the old-world time. To make its reservation more certain I applied to the Secretary of State for leave to bring in a Bill to this end, and his permission is now on the sea. I regret that I will not have the pleasure of giving assent to it. A survey has been made of the Jubilee Road round the Island. It has been traced with easy gradients, and offers in the section between Aberdeen and Deep Water Bay, an important sanitary reform, for part of the scheme is to fill up and turf over the festering inlet to which the leading medical men of the Colony point as the source of the malaria which has so long marred the health of Aberdeen and the neighbourhood of Magazine Gap. I have nothing but the good of the community at heart, and I emphatically state that if you believe medical testimony, it is your duty to decree that this section be the first taken in hand. Health and pleasure and the wheels of progress, and I may add of bicycles, move on roads, and in my belief a great strengthening of the defence of this Island will take place when the tracing across the pathless barrier of Mount Cameron and Mount Nicholson is broadened into a road. Shortly after arriving in this Colony I urged the Government to take this in hand on public grounds, and it is with great pleasure that by an agreement effected on my representation this boon to the pleasure of the Colony and to its defence may be expected shortly to begin. hardly teach you much about finance; the revenue is increasing, the financial position is sound, and taxation is light; but costly works lie ahead. New Law Courts, new General Post Office, a new Government Residence at the Peak and other public works for which money will have to be provided; in fact, the cry is ever "Onward," and I have no doubt that under the able Director, the public works of the future will be as magnificent and useful as those undertaken in the past. It is beyond my province to do more than allude to the great dramas that have been and are being enacted around us. We live in a history-making epoch, and changes are now in progress which will powerfully affect the future destinies of the five great nations of the world. Little Hongkong is not far removed from the centre of action, and its rulers may have a word to say to the shaping of events. Sir HENRY BLAKE will shortly arrive to assume the reins of Government, and I congratulate the Colony on having secured a chief so able and so experienced, and have no doubt that the Colony will advance under his wise rule. I cannot retire from the presidency of this Council without thanking the Honourable Members for the zeal and attention which they have brought to bear on all matters submitted to them and for the kindly spirit which has animated all their dealings with ine. I have much pleasure in acknowledging the loyal and willing co-opera- tion with which the Colonial Secretary and the other official members have worked with me in our joint task of carrying out the administration of the Colony.

Mr. CHATER addressed the Council.

Dr. Ho KAI addressed the Council.

The Acting Colonial Secretary addressed the Council.

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