(viii)
1. Is it advisable to give the Society a legal status?
At present the Society has no definite legal status and is at liberty to work inde pendently of the Government under its present Rules and Regulations; though as a matter of fact it has been the custom of the Society for many years to disregard its rules in this respect and to work in co-operation with the Registrar General. We think that, both in the interests of the Society and of the public, the powers of the Society should be clearly defined by law and that it should not, as at present, have power to carry on its work independently of the Government. The Society has been found to work most effectively in association with a Government officer, and we recommend that this principle of association should be definitely laid down by law instead of as at present being left to the discretion of each yearly directorate.
2. A. Whether provision should be made for such status in a Bill similar to that under discussion or
B. Whether, as suggested by the Secretary of State 10 years ago, the Society should be formed under the Companies Act of 1865 and its rules and organisation formally approved by the Local Government.
We are in favour of a Bill similar to that under discussion, and in that opinion are supported by the Chinese witnesses whom we examined. If the Society be formed under the Companies Act of 1865, it would be quite possible to avoid the principle of Government association, which we and also the Chinese witnesses consider essential to the proper and effective working of the Society. In the draft bill now before the Legislative Council that principle is clearly laid down. We are also in favour of the draft bill as being a less circuitous and less expensive way of arriving at the object aimed at than forming the Society under the Companies Ordinance.
With reference to the draft ordinance considerable misapprehension seems to exist regarding the powers it confers on the Pó Léung Kuk. The draft bill gives no increased powers to the Pó Léung Kuk. It in fact brings the Society more under the control of the Government than it ever, theoretically, has been previously. Beyond the prin- ciple of Government supervision and the introduction of the principle of a permanent Board of Direction, which the practical working of the Society has shown to be most desirable and which the Chinese consider "will not only inspire confidence among the "public, but will also help to increase the efficiency of the Society," the various sections of the draft bill are but merely a reproduction of the present rules and regu- lations of the Society, which have been formally sanctioned by the Secretary of State and the Colonial Government of this Colony, and which are in the eyes of the majority of the Chinese quite as authoritative as any Ordinance passed by the Legislature. The distinction between Regulations approved by the Secretary of State and promulgated by the Government and an Ordinance passed by the Legislative Council, approved by the Secretary of State and promulgated by the Government is one which many Chinese would not readily recognise. It has been suggested that if the President be out-voted on any question he should have the right of appeal to the Governor. Though the Registrar General considers such a contingency is not likely to arise, we think there can be no objection to giving the President and the Committee of the Society the right of appeal to the Governor in cases where there may be a wide difference of opinion.
As regards point 8, we see no reason why the last clause of the Bill should not be omitted altogether. The clause is not an innovation, for it is simply a reproduction of Regulation No. 13 of the present Rules and Regulations of the Pó Léung Kuk-a regu- lation which has always, we understand, been a dead letter. So far as we are aware it is not unlawful "for the Governor in his discretion to direct a certain number of "detectives and constables to be placed at the service" of any Society. It seems un- necessary, therefore, to say that such a discretionary power is lawful.
* Section 19.