Sessional_Paper_1932 — Page 58

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2. There is a tendency however on the part of the Observatory staff to devote a part of their time to taking magnetic and other observations which, though no doubt of great interest to international meteorological institutions, are of no benefit either to Hong Kong or to local shipping. Such work should not be undertaken, for if it is, there is the danger that the proper functions of the Observatory will be neglected. Moreover it necessarily entails the purchase of expensive instruments; those for the magnetic hut at Au Tau for example cost $8,000 in addition to $12,000 for the building. The Observatory should confine its activities to work for mariners.

3. The Commissioners recommend that on a vacancy occuring, which will probably be soon, on the retirement of the present Director, the post of junior assistant should be filled by a Chinese. In due course the post of Chief Assistant should also be held by a Chinese.

POST OFFICE.

One small reduction has already been effected in the Post Office by the abolition of the post of Inspector of Postmen. Beyond this the Commissioners are unable to recom- mend any reductions. Apart from local postal work, the Hong Kong Post Office has to deal with a vast amount of transit mail between south and north China, and China and all other parts of the world. The mails must be dealt with expeditiously. The Post Office staff is not too large. When a new Post Office is built in Kowloon; central distribution of letters should be instituted, as it has been on the Hong Kong side. This system is economical in postmen.

SECRETARIAT FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS.

The duties performed by the staff of this department are multifarious, extending as they do from liaison work between the Government and the Chinese community to inspection of factories. It is evident that work of the latter description, in fact all social welfare work, will increase in the near future. It is right that Hong Kong should progress in this direction; moreover, there is the League of Nations with its various committees and missions continually urging that more be done. It is probable that the staff will tend to grow larger rather than smaller. There is however one small reduction that should be made, and that is the post of the European Police Sergeant attached to the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for inspection of boarding houses. That work could be adequately performed by the ordinary staff of the department.

2. A system of voluntary censorship accompanied by a bond or cash deposit, might be substituted for the present form of censorship control, in the case of the larger and more responsible Chinese newspapers. A reduction in the censorship staff could then be effected.

3. Payment of compensation for 'fung shui' should be discontinued.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS DEPARTMENT.

With the exception of the Treasury the Imports and Exports Department is the largest revenue collecting of all the Government departments. The staff is however chiefly occupied in the prevention of smuggling and evasion of excise duties. Hong Kong is so situated that it is peculiarly easy for the smuggler of opium, liquor and tobacco to bring his wares into the Colony. The staff of eighteen European and ninety-six Chinese Revenue Officers is not too large for the work to be performed. The more that smuggling can be prevented the greater will be the revenue. It was for this reason that the Com- missioners informed the Government last September that they agreed to the building of a new launch for the department.

2. No reduction is recommended in the staff of the Statistical Branch.

AUDIT DEPARTMENT.

Numerically not a large department, but an important one, auditing as it does the accounts of all Government departments. It has expanded little during the last twenty years, certainly not in proportion to the increase in the Colony's revenue and expendi-