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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 19TH SEPTEMBER, 1868.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Made by the Governor in Council, this 12th Day of September, 1868, in pursuance of Section XVIII of Ordinance No. 9 of 1867.
1. No Person shall keep any House, Room, Boat, or Vessel, or any place on Land or Water for Public Playing or Gambling, or shall permit any Person to Play within such House, Room, Boat, or Vessel, or any place on Land or Water, except in such places as are Licensed by the Governor in Council; and every such License so granted shall be revocable at the will and pleasure of the Officer administering the Government, and shall be subject to such limitations as the Officer administering the Government shall impose.
2. In the City of Victoria there shall not be more than Twelve of such Houses Licensed for Public Gambling, and not more than One such House in Aberdeen, Stanley, and Show-kee-wan respectively, nor more than One such House at Kowloon,
3. Each House before being Licensed, must be approved as suitable by the Surveyor General, or the Assistant Surveyor General, and each House shall not have more than One means of ingress and egress, and there shall be no means of escape by the roof.
4. Each Licensed House shall have One Registered Proprietor, who shall be responsible for the proper conduct of the establishment under his charge, and such Registered Proprietor shall never sublet without the permission in writing of the Officer administering the Governinent, or himself pay any sum to any other party on account of the profits receivable from such Licensed House.
5. The Registered Proprietors of Licensed Houses having any representation to make to, or any business to transact with, the Government must do so by personal application to the Registrar General, as no attention will be paid to memorials or representations coming through third parties.
6. No party holding a License from the Government under these Regulations or having an Interest in any such License shall be at liberty to throw up his License or relieve himself from the obligations entailed thereby unless he shall give at least One Clear Month's Notice to the Registrar General of his intention so to do.
7. The Captain Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, and Assistant Superintendent of Police, and the Registrar General, and any Persons authorised by the Officer administering the Government to visit and inspect the Licensed Houses shall, at all hours of the day and night, have access to the said Licensed Houses.
8. For each Licensed House there shall be issued a Monthly License, and there shall be paid in advance such Monthly fee as may be directed by the Governor, and in addition there shall be deposited in the Colonial Treasury a sum equal to the fees for One Month as a security for compliance with these Regulations, and the whole or any part of the sums so deposited shall be liable to forfeiture for the use of the Colonial Government at any time at the will and pleasure of the Officer administering the Government.
9. The Officer administering the Government may at any time order any or all Licensed Gambling Houses to be closed either summarily and at once, or after such notice as the said Officer administering the Government may direct, and in every case of a House being closed for breach of Regulations then so long as any Licensed House or Houses remain open, the Officer administering the Government, for the purpose of preventing such irregularity operating to the advantage of any holder of a Gambling License, may direct the Monthly fees payable for the remaining Licenses to be so increased that the total amount of fees receivable by the Government shall remain unaltered.
10. Playing in the Licensed Houses shall not commence before 6 A.M. and shall cease at 11 P.M., or earlier if so ordered by the Officer administering the Government.
11. Not more than 7 per cent discount shall be claimed by the Proprietor of any House on the Gains of the Players.
12. No Proprietor of a Licensed House or Person connected therewith shall on any account give money or articles of value directly or indirectly to any Person in Government employ either by way of reward, bribe, gratuity, or payment for service.
13. No Persons other than those of the Chinese, Malay, and Indian Races, shall be, unless authorised thereto under these Regulations, permitted to enter any of the said Licensed Houses.
14. All Licensed Houses within these Regulations shall be closed as hitherto on Sundays, and no Play allowed therein on any pretext under pain of forfeiture of License and Deposit Money.
L. D'ALMADA E CASTRO, Clerk of Councils.
Approved in Council,
RICHARD GRAVES MACDONNELL, Governor.