HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
12TH JANUARY, 1911.
PRESENT:―
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS laid
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, SIR FREDERICK JOHN DEALTRY LUGARD, K.C.M.G., C.B., B.S.O.
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING THE TROOPS (MAJOR-GENERAL C. A. ANDERSON, C.B.).
HON. SIR F. H. MAY, K.C.M.G. (Colonial Secretary).
HON. MR. C. MCI. MESSER (Colonial Treasurer).
HON. MR. W. CHATHAM, C.M.G. (Director of Public Works).
HON. MR. F. J. BADELEY (Capt. Superintendent of Police).
HON. MR. A. W. BREWIN (Registrar General).
HON. MR. WEI YUK, C.M.G.
HON. DR. HO KAI, M.D., C.M.G.
HON. MR. H. E. POLLOCK, K.C.
HON. MR. E. A. HEWETT
HON. MR. E. OSBORNE.
HON. MR. KESWICK
MR. C. CLEMENTI (Clerk of Councils) Minutes
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Financial Minutes
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table Financial Minutes (Nos. 1 and 2), and moved that they be referred to the Finance Committee.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Papers
on the table the Report of the Public Works Committee (No. 4 of 1910).
Sir Henry May
THE HON. DR. HO KAI―Sir, I have much pleasure in moving the resolution standing in my name. At the last Council meeting your Excellency publicly and for the first time announced to this Council that His Majesty the King had been pleased to select the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, Sir Henry May, to be Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the South Pacific. You followed the announcement, Sir, with the expression of some cordial sentiments which the members of this Council unanimously endorsed and applauded. We felt, however, that we ought to go further and place formally on record in the minutes of this Honourable Council the great appreciation of its members of Sir Henry's lengthy, able and valuable services, and the profound respect and admiration in which he is held by every member of this Council, Official and Unofficial alike, on account of his sterling personal qualities and worth, and his great abilities as a legislator and administrator. Having sat in this Council continuously for the last twenty-one years and having taken part in the public affairs of the Colony since 1882, I have had full and numerous opportunities of becoming well acquainted with Sir Henry May from the earliest time―(applause)―and of forming a true estimate of his excellent qualities, both as a public servant and as a private gentleman. Without the least flattery and undue adulation, therefore, I may state the honest truth that it will be hard for us to find the like of him again. (Applause.) Energetic and hard-working,
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straightforward and clear-sighted, impartial and just, firm and yet full of true sympathy and kindness―(applause)―the loss of such a man to the Colony is in my opinion well nigh irreparable ― (applause) ― and the only consolation left to us is in the knowledge that what is our loss will be somebody else's gain. (Applause.) I need not say more to ensure the unanimous adoption of this resolution. (Applause.) Believe me, the insertion of this record will add much lustre to the annals of this Honourable Council. (Applause.) Respectfully I beg to move: "That the hearty congratulations of the Members of this Council be tendered to the Honourable Sir F. Henry May, K.C.M.G., on his well-merited promotion to the Governorship of the Colony of Fiji; and that a record be made and inserted in the minutes of this Council of the deep appreciation felt by the Members thereof of his long and valuable services as an Official Member, and of their regret at losing a colleague who is distinguished no less by his great ability and high character than by his constant courtesy and straightforwardness, qualities which have won for him the profound respect and admiration of the entire Council." (Applause.)
HON. Mr. HEWETT―Your Excellency, at the request of the unofficial members I have much pleasure in seconding this resolution. I presume that I have been asked to do so for this reason, that with the exception of the two Chinese members my personal recollection of Hongkong goes back more years than that of anyone else in this room. I have therefore for many many years kept a close run on the history and working of Hongkong, and I have the greatest pleasure in endorsing not only what has been said this afternoon by the senior unofficial member with regard to Sir Henry May's ability, his hard work, and his honesty of purpose as a government official, but also what your Excellency said at our last meeting. So much has been said on these two points that there is nothing left for me to say. We all recognise Sir Henry May's good work, and we therefore wish to put on record an unofficial resolution which will be endorsed. I am sure, by the whole community, to the extent to which the Colony is indebted to Sir Henry May. (Applause.) There are other sides of Sir Henry's life in Hongkong that have not been touched upon, and possibly you may bear with
me if I refer to them. As a sportsman Sir Henry May, both in the saddle and with the gun, ranks amongst the foremost. I trust I may not be accused of undue levity if in view of his recent accident I wish him in the field of sport more power to his elbow. (Applause.) Again, socially Sir Henry May has rendered good work. I will not attempt to enumerate the many matters in which he has taken a leading part, but there is one to which I will refer because it is very near my heart, namely, the formation of the European branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. (Applause.) There, we know, Sir Henry took a very leading part from its inception to the present moment. That was distinctly good work. In all that class of work with which he has been identified he has been ably supported by Lady May. (Applause.) As regards that section of our life in Hongkong, taking even that section alone, we must feel we are distinct losers by the departure of Sir Henry and Lady May from the Colony. I will not continue. I will only say in support of the resolution moved by the senior unofficial member on behalf of the unofficial members, and I feel sure of the whole Colony, that we regret the departure of Sir Henry May and his family from our midst. We trust they may have very many years before them of increasing honour for Sir Henry May and long life and prosperity to Lady May and her daughters. With these words I beg to second the resolution now before the Council.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― Sir, I rise to add a few words in support of the resolution proposed in such able terms by the senior unofficial member, and in doing so I feel sure 1 voice the sentiments of my colleagues not only at this table but throughout the Service generally. It is over twenty years ago now since I had occasion to interview the Private Secretary to the Governor, who is now the Governor-Elect of Fiji, and I confess that when I saw him I was somewhat surprised at his youthful appearance. Time has dealt kindly with him and he still preserves in a great measure that youthful appearance which augurs well for a prolonged career of use fulness in the new station which he is about to fill. At a later stage I came in closer contract with him in connection with sanitary matters, and naturally sanitation
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and public works go hand in hand. So we were much drawn together. I have ever appreciated the deep interest that he took in everything that he had to look into or to deal with in any capacity either in regard to sanitary matters or in connection with police work or otherwise. I am sure, Sir, he may feel that wherever he goes he carries with him the esteem and good wishes of his colleagues in Hongkong. (Applause.)
HIS EXCELLENCY―Gentlemen, when I announced at our last meeting the appointment for which the Hon. Colonial Secretary had been selected by His Majesty, I took occasion to say a few words, and I have little to add to them to-day. I would wish, however, to identify myself with what has just been said by both the official and the unofficial members. I may add that this meeting of Council has been convened primarily, in fact, solely, for the purpose of this resolution by the unanimous wish of the unofficial members. I can sympathise with you, Sir, in leaving a work in which your life has been identified, for I, too, have gone through the same ordeal, but in after years when you have put your hand to the new task you will look back with pride and pleasure to the work you have been able to do in this Colony and to the resolution that stands in the minutes of this Council, spoken to in such hearty terms by both your own colleagues in office and by the unofficial members of the Council to-day. I have only now to add my hopes to those which have been already expressed that the utmost success may attend you in your new career. As one speaker said, I feel that our loss in this Colony is the gain of Fiji, and not of Fiji only, but the gain of the Empire. (Applause.) If I had myself any small share in bringing your name forward for consideration by the Secretary of State, I can feel that if I have inflicted a loss on the Colony in doing so I have had the interests of the Empire at heart. We shall regret you not only in the very many spheres of work which have been alluded to, but in many which you now have in hand, and in which I shall miss your help and advice ― amongst others, in the difficult negotiations we are undertaking with China in regard to the working agreement of the railway, in the progress of the Licensing Board with the aims and ideals it h s in view, and in too many other lines of work for me to allude to now. The hon. member who
seconded the resolution said that it was the desire that an unofficial resolution should be recorded in the minutes of this Council. The resolution has been spoken to by the senior official member at this Board and by myself, and I claim that it is not an unofficial resolution but a unanimous resolution on behalf of both officials and unofficials, though it stands in the name of the unofficial members as representing the community at large. The motion before us is that a record be made and inserted in the minutes of the Council, and I take it that the resolution itself being recorded in the minutes gives effect to this desire. I have therefore to put the question to you that the resolution which has been duly made and seconded shall be adopted.
This was followed by "Ayes" and applause.
HIS EXCELLENCY ― Adopted unanimously.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ― Hon. members will not expect from me on this occasion any set speech. I will only beg the Members of this Council (both Unofficial and Official) to accept my heartfelt thanks for the advice and the assistance which during many years they have so readily granted me; and, in taking leave of you, I would ask you to give my successor the same cordial co-operation which has been accorded to me so often and so generously. I have also to thank the hon. member who seconded the resolution for his kind references to my wife, and you, Sir, and hon. members for the manner in which you endorsed his sympathetic remarks. (Applause.)
Questions
THE. HON. Mr. OSBORNE asked the following questions, of which he had given notice:―
1. Will the Government take steps to prevent the destruction of birds by sham sportsmen, who by means of the Railway are enabled to invade the New Territory and threaten extinction to every form of bird life, game and otherwise?
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2. Will the Government cause to be laid on this table half-yearly a statement of the work actually accomplished on the new typhoon refuge; and in such form that the public may be able to judge whether the rate of progress is such as to ensure completion by contract date?
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY replied to the questions as follows:―
1. In October last the Police were instructed and holders of game licences were warned that it is illegal to kill or to attempt to kill any wild bird which is not named in game licences. The Police were at the same time instructed not to interfere with sportsmen shooting plover and the two kinds of pigeon known as blue-rock and scaleback. The action taken has, it is believed, been effective, but assistance by way of information by the public will be welcomed.
2. Statements containing the contract quantities and the quantities of work executed for the half years ending June 30th and December 31st, 1911, will be laid on the table of the Council, but as the preparation of these statements will involve some cost and trouble, and it is doubtful whether they will convey much information to the general public, the question of continuing them beyond the last named date will be dependent on the renewed desire of Council for their submission.
Lepers Ordinance Amendment Ordinance
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the first reading of a Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Lepers Ordinance, 1910."
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Memorandum attached to the Bill states: This Bill amends the Lepers Ordinance, 1910 (No. 24 of 1910), and modifies the power given to the Governor-in-Council to order the banishment of alien lepers. It prohibits the entry into the Colony of persons, not being subjects of His Majesty, suffering from leprosy and authorises the Governor-in-Council to banish such persons.
Defence Ordinance Amendment Ordinance
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the first reading of a Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Defences (Sketching Prevention) Ordinance, 1895, and to control balloonists and others who have special opportunities for obtaining information respecting the defences of the Colony."
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Memorandum attached to the Bill states:
The development of Aviation since the Principal Ordinance was passed has rendered it necessary to introduce legislation with a view to controlling ascents in balloons and aeroplanes in a fortress such as Hongkong, for without such control the purposes of the Ordinance would be unllified. Opportunity has been taken to bring the Ordinance into line in some other details with the law existing in other Eastern British Colonies.
Pensions Ordinance Amendment
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the second reading of the Bill entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Widows' and Orphans' Pension Ordinance, 1901." In doing so he said ― As the Memorandum appended to the Ordinance shows, the effect of the Ordinance is simply to remove doubts as to the interpretation of the existing Ordinance.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Council then went into committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
On resuming,
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY reported that the Bill had passed through Committee without amendment, and moved that it be read a third time.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held afterwards―the Colonial Secretary in the chair. The following votes were passed:
Public Works Recurrent
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of Four thousand Dollars ($4,000) in aid of the vote, Public Works, Recurrent, Communications, Maintenance of Roads and Bridges in New Territories.
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Tsim Sha Tsui Market
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of Six hundred and ninety-six Dollars ($696) in aid of the vote, Sanitary Department, Other Charges, Sanitary Staff, Light, Tsim Sha Tsui Market.
HON. MR. OSBORNE―Can you tell us, Sir, when the market will be ready?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― The market is practically completed, but unfortunately there has been discovered some defect in the construction of the roof, in the quality of the material used, which may delay its completion.
HON. MR. OSBORNE―How long will it elay it?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS―I
should say two months at least.
HON. MR. HEWETT―I presume that will not be any expense on the ratepayers of Hongkong?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― No.
HON. MR. KESWICK―Can we claim on the contractor?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― The contractor will have to make good his inferior work at his own expense.
HON. MR. KESWICK ― Has he got any security?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS― Yes.