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Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-The description does not state whether the Society there has a Government status similar to that which is proposed to be given to the Society here by the proposed Bill.
The CHAIRMAN.-The Home there is established under the law for the protection of women and children. Under that law there is a special provision regarding the Home for Girls, and the Home in Singapore is established under that Ordinance.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-Is it merely a Benevolent Society or is it a depart- ment of the Government with power to administer laws and carry them out, to assist the Government in carrying them out, as the Act which we are now considering proposes to give to the Society here?
The CHAIRMAN.—I do not quite understand that interpretation of the proposed Ordinance.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.--The police here are a department of the Govern- ment and the Society as is proposed to constitute it under the new Ordinance will become a kind of department of the Government; that is to say it will be a separate department from the police and have Government status and power.
The CHAIRMAN.It would aid in the good government of the colony most decidedly. The object of the Ordinance is to put the Pó Léung Kuk on a more satisfactory footing than at present, to enable it to carry on the work which it has carried on, in a more effective manner. That is, I take it, the object of the Ordinance.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-Is the Society in Singapore similarly constituted?
The CHAIRMAN.--I do not know that there is a special Ordinance incorporating the Pó Léung Kuk, but it is recognised by Government and performs much the same work in Singapore as the Pó Léung Kuk does here.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.--The Society there has no Government status, no status in consequence of any Ordinance passed?
The CHAIRMAN.--It is recognised, I believe, under the Ordinance for the protection of women and children as helping in the management of the Home to which girls are sent. It is therefore recognised by law.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.--The Ordinance which is before us is one which gives a Governmental status and power to the Society, that is to say that it will be part and parcel of the Government of the colony.
Honourable Ho KAI-That is only an inference on your part.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-I view it as such because it is outside of the police, and the police is a department of the Government.
The CHAIRMAN.-That is a point really more for embodiment in our report than for discussion now.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-I want to know what Singapore does.
The CHAIRMAN.-If my explanation is not clear I should like to make it clearer. Honourable C. P. CHATER.--Singapore is under a different Ordinance to what is proposed here. It is under the Women and Children Protection Ordinance and the. Society is part and parcel of the requirements for carrying out that Ordinance.
Honourable T. H. WHITEHEAD.-Would it not be well to follow Singapore ? Honourable C. P. CHATER.-These women are got together by the Chinese them- selves and they say "We want to have a place to put them into." They won't be dictated to.
The CHAIRMAN.-It is a distinction with very little difference. Both Societies are under an Ordinance in so far as they are recognised by Ordinance. As a matter of fact,