( 3 )
The CHAIRMAN then remarked that Mr. WHITEHEAD having stated that he had never accused the Pó Léung Kuk of obtaining subscriptions improperly and that he had never meant to accuse the Pó Léung Kuk Society of being a Secret Society or a Society such as the Triad Society, or a Society liable to be dealt with under the Secret Societies Ordinance, there were no charges for the Committee to inquire into so far as points 3 and 4 were concerned. Under the circumstances it might be as well to adopt the mode of inquiry recommended by the Honourable Mr. CHATER and supported by the Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD, viz., to inquire into the working of the Society before proceeding to consider the other points referred to the Committee.
The Honourable Dr. Ho KAI said that, in view of the different aspect given to the charges by the explanation of the Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD, he had now no objection to the working of the Society being considered first.
It was accordingly decided to inquire into the working of the Society before proceeding to consider the other points of inquiry.
The Committee then considered the question of admitting to their Meetings Counsel on behalf of the Pó Léung Kuk.
The Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD remarked that the Pó Léung Kuk's case must be a bad one, if it required for its defence or prosecution the aid and pleading of the leading Solicitors and Queen's Counsel in the Colony.
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The Honourable Ho KAI said that it was no wonder that the Committee of the Pó Léung Kuk should have retained Counsel, seeing what grave charges had been preferred against them.
After some discussion it was agreed that the Solicitor who had addressed the Committee on this point, on behalf of the Pó Léung Kuk, should be informed that, if the absence of Counsel is likely to affect adversely the interests of the Society, the Committee will inform the Pó Léung Kuk, so that the Society may be represented by Counsel.
The Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD objected to the Society being represented by Counsel under any circumstances.
The Committee considered the question of admitting representatives of the Press to their meetings.
The Honourable Mr. MAY, the Honourable Mr. CHATER, and the Honourable Dr. Ho Kar voted against their admission on the grounds that, as the proceedings before the Committee would be taken down by a shorthand writer and ultimately published along with the Committee's report, they did not consider it would serve any useful purpose to have their proceedings made public while their inquiries were being made.
The Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD voted for their admission.
The CHAIRMAN did not vote.
The majority of the Committee not being in favour of the admission to their meetings of representatives of the Press, it was decided not to admit them.
The Committee also decided not to admit to their meetings members of the public. The CHAIRMAN suggested that witnesses should be invited to attend their next meeting and the Honourable Mr. CHATER promised to furnish names of Europeans whose evidence he thought might be of use to the Committee and who might be requested to attend.
The Honourable Mr. WHITEHEAD requested that the Committee might be furnished with statements of revenue and expenditure since the foundation of the Society.
The CHAIRMAN stated he would be glad to give all the information he possessed. regarding the working of the Society and promised to circulate among members of the Committee before the next meeting examples of the cases which came before the Pó Léung Kuk Committee together with any other information the Committee might desire.
The Committee adjourned till Thursday, the 9th June, at 3 P.M. Read and confirmed this 16th day of June, 1892.
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Chairman.