292
Constitution of adjudicating tri- banal * See Ord. No. 6 of 1862.1 No appeal.
Armed Chinese vessels, removal of.
Manufacture of guns, cannon, gunpowder, &c. in the Colony, prohibited from 1st February 1865. Penalty.
Sale of arms and ammunition to require a permit. Exception. Permit how obtained, and na- ture thereof. European gun- powder under 5lbs. excepted. Penalty.
ORDINANCE No. 1 of 1855.
Neutrality.
thousand dollars (such punishment to be accumulative or not at the discretion of the adjudicating tribunal) for any person resident within the Colony of Hongkong to assist either the existing Chinese Government or any of the different factions at pre- sent engaged or who may be hereafter engaged in opposition to the said Government by personal enlistment in war service or by procuring other persons to enlist in such service or by furnishing, selling, or procuring warlike stores of any description or fitting out vessels, or by knowingly and purposely doing any other act to assist either party by which neutrality may be violated.
2. And be it further enacted and ordained, that the tribunal for adjudicating on offences of the description intended to be dealt with by this Ordinance shall be composed of the Chief Magistrate and two other Magistrates, and that there shall be no appeal whatsoever either by certiorari or otherwise from the decision of such tribunal.
3. And be it further enacted and ordained, that if any armed vessel whatsoever carrying any Chinese flag be found within any of the waters of this Colony and such vessel shall not depart therefrom within twenty-four hours after a notice to depart from these waters, signed by the Colonial Secretary, has been served on board thereof, such vessel shall, with everything found on board of it, be seized and sold or made forfeit to the Crown on due condemnation by the said Magistrates.
4. And be it further enacted and ordained, that from and after the first day of February one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five no person shall within Hongkong and its dependencies or the waters thereof manufacture any gun, cannon or other machine which can be used for the discharge of ammunition, or any shot or any gunpowder or other explosive substance of the nature of gunpowder or capable of being employed in discharging cannon, or any stink pots or any composition of the same or similar nature as that whereof stink pots are composed, under penalty, upon conviction of a breach of any part of this section, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve calendar months and of a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, such penalties to be accumulative or not at the discretion of the adjudicating tribunal.
5. And be it further enacted and ordained, that no person shall, within Hong- kong and its dependencies or the waters thereof, sell, barter or willingly part with the possession, under any excuse whatsoever, of any gun, cannon or other instrument which can be used for the discharge of ammunition (excepting always European fowling pieces and pistols of every description whatever) or any shot or any gunpowder or other explosive substance of the nature of gunpowder or capable of being employed in the same manner as gunpowder, without having previously obtained, in each particular instance, a permit in writing from the Chief Magistrate or any two Justices of the Peace, and such permit shall state the nature of the transaction and the person to whom the property is to be transferred. Provided always, that the necessity for such permit shall not extend to European gunpowder in quantities not exceeding five pounds at one time on any one day, and that any person convicted of a breach under this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months.