On the motion of the Colonial Secretary, the Council adjourned till 5 P.M. to enable the Address of the Legislative Council in reply to the Speech of His Excellency the Governor to be prepared.
The Council re-assembled at 5 P.M.
The Chief Justice took the Chair.
The Acting Clerk of Councils read at the table the following Address to be presented to His Excellency the Governor, in reply to the Speech he had been pleased to deliver to the Council:-
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,
We, the members of the Legislative Council of Hongkong, in Council assembled, beg to thank Your Excellency for the Speech with which you have opened this the first Session of the re-constituted Legislature of the Colony.
2. We desire to offer to Your Excellency our cordial congratulations upon the wise and salutary reform in the constitution of the Council which has been granted by Her Majesty's Government, on your recommendation, and with which your name will for ever be associated. We heartily concur in Your Excellency's expectation that the Government cannot fail to profit by the advice and assistance of an increased number of Unofficial Members; and that the entire Legislature will be animated by a common desire to promote the general welfare and progress of the community.
3. We concur in the advisability of assimilating the proceedings of this Legislature to the consti- tutional forms established in the other principal Crown Colonies.
4. Your Excellency's recommendation concerning the appointment of Committees of Finance, Law, and Public Works will receive our immediate attention.
5. We assure Your Excellency that we shall not fail to give our careful consideration to every question and measure which may be brought before us.
6. We learn with much pleasure that the Financial position of the Colony, as shown by the Official Statistics, is satisfactory.
7. We agree with your Excellency in the opinion that, in justice to the present generation of tax-payers in Hongkong, a moderate loan should be raised, on the exhaustion of the existing assets, to defray a portion of the cost of those Sanitary and other Public Works, which are recognised as of permanent importance for the security of the general health and well-being of our population.
8. The Estimates for 1885 will receive our careful attention, when they are laid before us.
9. We shall examine the Legislative Measures proposed with the careful deliberation which their importance requires.
10. We thank Your Excellency for the attention which you have given to the circumstances of the so-called Blockade of Hongkong; and we shall be glad to assist in bringing about an equitable settlement of this difficult question.
11. We have received with gratification Your Excellency's statement in regard to the Sanitary Reforms which are now in progress; and we trust that the further measures necessary for the preserva- tion of the Public Health will continue to occupy the earnest attention of the Government.
12. The want of house accommodation for the labouring classes of this community is a growing evil which we have watched with some alarm; and we shall be glad to co-operate with the efforts of the Government to alleviate the pressure felt in that direction.
13. We cordially approve the steps proposed to be taken to enforce the fulfilment of building covenants in leaseholds, and we trust that any additional security of tenure which may be granted to the smaller class of tenants will operate beneficially in diminishing the evils of overcrowding.
14. The drainage of the Marsh within the Race Course in the Wong-nei Chung Valley will confer a boon upon the community by providing a much-needed place of Recreation, and will in our opinion at the same time prove of great advantage to the Public Health.
15. We learn with satisfaction the completion of the Break-water and Meteorological Observatory, and the progress already made in such important and necessary Public Works as the Tai-tam Water Works; the Government Hospital; the Lunatic Asylum, and that the New Central School and the New Central Market will be commenced forthwith.
16. We trust that the forcible representation made by Your Excellency to the proper Imperial Authorities of the sanitary and other advantages to be derived from the junction of the Eastern and Western Prayas, will be crowned with success.
17. We have observed with interest the activity with which your Excellency has, during the short period of your Government, acquired a personal acquaintance with our chief Public Institutions. We shall gladly second your efforts to raise the standard of public Education here, and to enable a certain number of our most promising youths to complete their professional studies in England. We regard, moreover, with satisfaction the continuance of the competitive system for entrance into the Civil Service of Hongkong, consonant as that system is alike with modern English, and with ancient Chinese custom.