462
Emergency Regulations, under Ordinance No. 5 of 1922,--(continued).
Existing law.
Corresponding matter in the draft Bill.
Reg. 26. No person shall
im-
port newspapers without the permission of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
The
this
distinction between regulation and the Gover- nor's powers under the Bill is that the regulation gives the Secretary for Chinese Affairs a power of dispensa- tion, whereas the Bill gives the Governor a power of prohibition. The powers
conferred by the Bill cannot be regarded as a substitute for this regulation, and it would seem desirable there- fore to retain it during an
emergency.
Reg. 32. This regulation gives | The Bill gives power to the Post-
the Governor power to ap- point an officer to censor or control the transmission of telegrams and reg. 33 gives the Postmaster General similar power with regard to letters:
master General, Superinten- dent of Imports and Ex- ports and the Commissioner of Police to open and detain packages suspected to con- tain prohibited publications, clause 6 (1); the regulation deals primarily with censor- ship and therefore should be retained during an gency.
emer-
(4) Police Force Ordinance, 1932.
Section 18 (7) gives wide powers to a magistrate to issue a search warrant authorizing a police officer to search for documents.
Clause 7 gives power to issue a search warrant only when there is reasonable ground to suspect there has been ล breach of the provisions of the Bill.
(5) Post Office Ordinance, 1920.
The Postmaster General is au- thorized to open and delay postal packets which he has reason to believe contain anything which may not legally be sent by post. The Colonial Secretary may issue Â. warrant for that purpose (secs. 12 and 13).
Sending seditious matter by post is forbidden by section 32 (1) (i).
Clause 6 (1) gives the Post- master General specific powers to open and delay packages suspected to be or to contain prohibited publi- cations.
The power vested in the Post- master General by the Post Office Ordinance is a wider power than that created by this Bill and it would seem desirable that it should be left untouched.
Clause 4 (1) makes it an offence "to import prohibited publications".
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