ENG-1947 — Page 123

Chapter 8.

The year 1947 saw the enactment of 53 Ordinances. A number of these were necessitated by circumstances arising out of the occupation of the Colony by the Japanese, while others reflected the need for legislation to meet the problems of a post-war period. Among these latter were counted a number the object of which was to increase the revenue of the Colony so as to bring to an early end the Colony's

LEGISLATION dependence upon His Majesty's Trea-

was

sury. Much subsidiary legislation was as to bring to an early end the Colony's dependence upon His Majesty's Treasury. Much subsidiary legislation also passed during the year on a wide variety of subjects: a considerable part of this legislation was concerned with the control of prices which was an important feature of the Government's economic policy.

One of the most serious consequences of the Japanese occupation and a source of great inconvenience was the partial, and in some cases total, destruction of public records. The year under review has seen the enactment of several legislative measures the aim of which has been to remedy some of the most serious of these deficiences. The first of these measures was the Trade Marks Register (Reconstruction) Ordinance (No. 33 of 1947) whereby it is provided that the proprietor of a trade mark registered before the war may make a fresh registration of his trade mark in a new register prescribed by the Ordinance. Somewhat similar provision to assist companies

included in

an Ordinance entitled

entitled The Companies (Reconstruction of Records) Ordinance (No. 40 of 1947), which also regularised the position of companies, with the exception of China Companies, which had been prevented by the circum- stance of the Japanese occupation from complying with the requirements of the Companies Ordinance, 1932. Two other Ordinances fall naturally into the same category, namely, the Births Registration (Special Registers) Ordinance, No. 50 of 1947, and the Deaths Registration (Special Registers) Ordinance, No. 51 of 1947, which were designed to deal with difficulties arising out of the loss of certain registers of births and deaths.

was

on

Legislation of financial significance was represented by the Inland Revenue Ordinance, 1947 and the Hong Kong (Rehabilitation) Loan Ordinance, 1947. Hitherto taxes incomes and profits had been imposed by the War Revenue Ordinance of 1940 and its successor the War Revenue Ordinance 1941. The 1941 Ordinance was intended merely as a temporary measure to assist His Majesty's Government in the prosecution. of the war, but in the year under review, the need for increased revenue became so pronounced that it was considered necessary to enact the Inland Revenue Ordinance, 1947, whereby a tax

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