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THE HONGKONG.
Government Gazette.
No. 37.
Published by Authority.
VICTORIA, SATURDAY, 12TH SEPTEMBER, 1874.
VOL. XX.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF HONGKONG.
No. 10 of 1874.
MONDAY, 31ST AUGUST, 1874.
PRESENT:
His Excellency Governor SIR ARTHUR EDWARD KENNEDY, K.C.M.G., C.B.
The Honorable the Chief Justice (SIR JOHN SMALE).
The Honorable the Colonial Secretary (JOHN GARDINER AUSTIN).
The Honorable the Attorney General (JOHN BRAMSTON).
The Honorable the Acting Treasurer (CECIL CLEMENTI SMITH).
The Honorable PHINEAS RYRIE.
The Honorable RICHARD ROWETT.
The Honorable WILLIAM HASTINGS ALEXANDER.
The Honorable JAMES WHITTALL.
The Council meets this day at 2.30 P.M., by special Summons.
The Minutes of the Council held on the 12th August, are read and confirmed.
Read a first time a Bill to consolidate and amend the Law relating to Chinese Passenger Ships, and the
Conveyance of Chinese Emigrants.
His Excellency states that this Bill is introduced in pursuance of instructions from the Secretary of State, and is merely a re-enactment of Ordinance No. 3 of 1874, with certain corrections and additions, as ordered by His Lordship. The despatch conveying those instruc- tions, being No. 57 of 10th July, is then laid on the Table and read.
The Honorable the 'Attorney General, by direction of His Excellency, explains the amendments suggested by the Secretary of State,-who has also directed that the Bill should be passed without the Suspending clause.
The Honorable RICHARD ROWETT, in pursuance of notice, puts the following Question:--"What measures, if any, have been taken by the Government of Hongkong to obtain redress or satis- faction for the outrage which was committed at Ma-T'at, on the Island of Lamma, or Pok-Liu, on the 15th instant, by Chinese who fired from a Mandarin Junk upon some fishermen, three of whom were wounded.”
The Honorable the Colonial Secretary, by direction of His Excellency, states in reply that the Question of the Honorable Member was referred to the Attorney General, who has advised that Lamma Island is not part of the Colony of Hongkong.
The Honorable the Attorney General, by way of explanation, states that, although the Charter of the Colony speaks of Hongkong and its Dependencies, by Article III of the Treaty of Nanking the Emperor of China cedes to Her Majesty "the Island of Hongkong," to be possessed in perpetuity by Her Majesty. The words of the Article are not large enough to include Lamina, and it is obvious that the question must be decided by the express language of the Treaty.