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No. 131.
The Hongkong Government Gazette. [No. 75.—December 6, 1936.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The subjoined Translation of a Notice addressed to the Chinese Inhabitants on the subject of Mr CALDWELL'S recent appointment as Registrar General, and on the necessity of a system of Registration, is published for general
information.
By Order,
W. T. MERCER, Colonial Secretary.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Victoria, Hongkong, 4th December, 1856.
CALDWELL, (Official Title, &o., &c.)
Whereas His Excellency the Governor of this Colony has been pleased to appoint Mr Caldwell, Registrar General and Protector of Chinese residing in Hongkong, this is to give notice to the Chinese Community, that in all cases in which they have difficulty in under- standing the law as here administered, or conceive themselves to have wrongs for which they are otherwise unable to obtain redress, they are at liberty to apply between the hours of 10 and 4, at Mr Caldwell's office, next to the Police Station, or in cases of special emergency at his house in Gough Street.
And whereas it is expedient for the protection of the good citizen that vagrancy should be as much as possible brought under restraint, it is at the same time desirable that any system of registration having that object in view should be so contrived as to attain it No levy of charge or fee is contemplated, and the respectable with the least possible inconvenience to those whom it is intended to benefit. Inhabitants of the City are invited at their earliest convenience to depute members of their community, either to wait on Mr Caldwell and state what they may have to say in person, or to submit to him in writing such details and suggestions as may enable him, with the aid of his own experience, to devise a system which shall work effectively, but, at the same time, without undue restriction or annoyance,
No. 132.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The following Document, being the substance of the Reply given to a Petition presented by certain of the Chinese Traders of this Colony, is published for general information.
By Order,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Victoria, Hongkong, 4th December, 1856.
W. T. MERCER, Colonial Secretary,
His Excellency the Governor has received the Petition of the Le-Tae and other shops, several score in number, and in reference to their complaints, of which a list in seven sections is appended to the Petition, His Excellency desires Petitioners to be informed to the following effect,
J. It is prayed that no more heavy fines be levied for the committing of nuisances, and that those levied in the last few days be returned. The nuisance ordinance was passed for the prevention of fires, and to the preservation of health. It had especially in view the advantage of the Chinese population, and was accordingly published in Chinese. Its provisions having been much infringed both by Chinese and others, the Magistrates proceeded to enforce its penalties. Many persons not Chinese baving been heavily fined, on the 20th, and following days, the Chinese were also heavily fined. This was in perfect accordance with the law, and with punishments legally inflicted; it is not the province of His Excellency to interfere. It having been represented to him, however, in a petition numerously and respectably signed, that the poverty of some of the offenders was such as to make the fine a more than ordinary burden, His Excellency
grace. has caused the Tipo's to be summoned, and having instituted enquiry, has directed that certain sums be refunded as an act of
This matter is thus disposed of, nor can further complaints regarding it be entertained.
or robbers.
2. As to the seizure of vessels by Rebels in the harbour of Hongkong. This is an outrage of the gravest character. If unauthorized persons even board vessels lying in barbour, to the annoyance of their owners, &c., these should immediately give notice at the Police Office, or to Mr Caldwell, newly appointed Protector of Chinese, and the delinquents will immediately be seized and dealt with as pirates His Excellency finds it difficult to believe what is asserted in the Petition, that applications made in the proper quarters have been unattended to. Should such in any instance be the case, the applicant has it still in his power to address the head of the Government. 3. As to the interference of the Police with goods landing from boats, hawkers' wares, &c., the Police have orders carefully to Any one assaulted abstain from any act of personal violence, unless where the resistance of persons lawfully arrested renders it necessary. by the Police, or whose goods are injured by the Police, has undoubted right to bring the offender before the magistrates. But Petitioners uinst remember, that the regulations affecting the removal of goods, and the non-obstruction of thoroughfares by bawkers, are all enforced in the interest of the public. Prompt attention should therefore be given to the requisitions of the Police; if it be not, it is their duty to arrest the offender, and it is equally the duty of all good citizens to give every assistance to the Police to enable them to carry out the law a duty which it is notorious that the Chinese generally neglect; whereby the Police are harassed and culprits escape.
4. The proposition regarding the responsibility of streets, in cases where robbery is charged against shops or houses, appears reason- able, and petitioners will do well to submit their views and wishes on this point to Mr Caldwell, who, in addition to his duties as Protector of Chinese, has been also appointed Registrar General.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
Diplomatic Department.
A Despatch dated 14th November, 1856, from Her Britannic Majesty's Plenipotentiary, &c., &c., to His Excellency YEH, the Imperial Commissioner, having been inadvertently omitted in the Correspondence published in the Hongkong Government Gazette Extraordinary of 28th ultimo, it is hereby published for general information.
By Order,
Superintendency of Trade, Victoria, Hongkong, 1st December, 1856.
W. WOODGATE.
SUPERINTENDENCY of Trade, Hongkong, 14th November, 1856,
SIR, I have received, and read with all attention, Your Excellency's letter dated 12th instant. Whatever representations may have been made to Your Excellency, there is no doubt that the Lorcha Arrow lawfully bore the British Flag, under a register granted by me; and that Treaty obligations were violated by the seizure of her crew, without the intervention of the Consul, by your officers; and that this violation required reparation as public as the outrage. I have undoubted evidence that the British Flag was flying when it was pulled down by your officer, and 1 quite approve of the conduct of the Consul in the whole of this affair.
I cannot but express my astonishment and regret that Your Excellency, and the former Commissioner Seu, should have reported to the Emperor that my government had withdrawn the right to enter the City of Canton, solely on the ground that at a particular moment my pre- decessor, Mr Bonham, had probibited H. M. subjects from entering the City. You have been again and again informed that Mr Bonham never did surrender, and was never authorized to surrender, a right acquired by Treaties,—and one, as it has long been most evident.