HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 27TH FEBRUARY, 1912.
PRESENT:―
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, SIR FREDERICK JOHN DEALTRY LUGARD, G.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.
HON. MR. C. SEVERN (Colonial Secretary).
HON. MR. REES DAVIES, K.C. (Attorney General.)
HON. MR. A. M. THOMSON (Colonial Treasurer).
HON. MR. W. CHATHAM, C.M.G. (Director of Public Works).
HON. MR. E. R. HALLIFAX (Registrar General).
HON. CAPTAIN F. J. BADELEY (Captain Superintendent of Police).
HON. DR. HO KAI, M.B., C.M.G.
HON. MR. WEI YUK, C.M.G.
HON. MR. H. E. POLLICK, K.C.
HON. MR. E. A. HEWETT, C.M.G.
HON. MR. C. H. ROSS.
HON. MR. E. OSBORNE.
MR. C. CLEMENTI (Clerk of Councils). Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
New Member
THE HON. MR. C. SEVERN took the oath of allegiance and assumed his seat as a member of Council.
Financial Minutes
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table Financial Minuts Nos. 1 to 12, and moved that they be referred to the Finance Committee.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded,
and the motion was agreed to.
Bye-Laws
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved that the Council approve of the Amendment of the Cemeteries Bye-laws.
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Jurors' List
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of H.E. the Governor, laid on the table the Jurors' List for 1912.
Public Works Committee
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS laid on the table the report of the Public Works Committee No. 1. In doing so he said―With reference to the reply given to the question asked in this Council on the 24th August last regarding the Kowloon Market I now beg to lay upon the table a report containing the result of the investigations by the Public Works Committee into the matter. The report also contains recommendations with regard to the Jubilee fountains which have formed the subject of questions in this Council.
Standing Orders
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of H.E. the Governor, laid upon the table Draft Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Council of Hongkong.
HIS EXCELLENCY―The new Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Council, which are now laid on the table, are the result of prolonged consideration since the beginning of last summer and of a very complete investigation of the Standing Orders which some little time before had been revised and altered in the Straits Settlements. I had the advantage of discussing them with the
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late Mr. Barnes. The present Standing Orders of our Council are very antiquated and many Rules are obscure. In some cases the subjects are confused under different headings. The present draft Orders have been referred to the Secretary of State and have been approved by him. The Hon. Colonial Secretary has laid them upon the table so that all members of the Council may have an opportunity of examining them before a resolution is introduced in the Council for their adoption.
The Governor's Impending Departure
HIS EXCELLENCY―Before we proceed to the business of the day, I would ask permission of the Council to make a somewhat personal statement. Since we last met I have received from the Secretary of State a telegram informing me that His Majesty has been pleased to appoint me to amalgamate the Governments of Northern and Southern Nigeria. I shall therefore be leaving this Colony on the 16th March, and I shall, with the greatest and deepest regret, have to take leave of this Council at our next meeting on the 7th March. His Majesty has been pleased to appoint Sir Henry May to succeed me in Hongkong, and I am glad to congratulate the majority of the unofficial members who represent the community in this Council on the fulfilment of the wishes which they had expressed to me on the matter.
Law Revision Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Law Revision Ordinance, 1911."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Law Amendment Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Law Amendment Ordinance 1911."
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Births and Deaths Registration
Amendment Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the
first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Law relating to the Registration of Births and Deaths."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are:―It is hoped, by making the clerks at public dispensaries, where babies are taken to be vaccinated, district registrars as well as the police officers in charge of the police stations, which are district register offices, that more Chinese will register the births of their children than is the case at present owing to the natural aversion which many Chinese women have to attending at police stations for any purpose whatever.
Gambling Amendment
Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Gambling Ordinance, 1891."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons are:―This Bill amends the Principal Ordinance by increasing the penalty on selling lottery tickets from twenty-five to a thousand dollars and by making possession with a view to sale (with the burden of proof on the defendant) an offence.
Holidays Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to make provision for the due observance of General, Public and Bank Holidays and to amend and consolidate the law relating to the same."
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are::―Under Ordinance No. 2 of 1875 all public holidays are bank holidays and there are also certain days which are bank holidays only. It is sometimes desirable to have a holiday for public and
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 3
educational institutions which is nevertheless not a bank holiday, and again it is sometimes desirable to have a holiday for educational establishments which is not a holiday for banks or public institutions. Moreover, section 7 of Ordinance No. 2 of 1875 appears in some measure to conflict with section 14 (1) (a) of Ordinance No. 3 of 1885. It has recently been decided with the approval of the Chamber of Commerce, which consulted the Banks, no longer to treat Victoria Day, or Empire Day as it will in future be called, as a Bank Holiday, and to have instead two new holidays on Mondays in October and November, respectively. This arrangement distributes the bank holidays more evenly throughout the year and provides for the due recognition of the Birthday (November the 9th) of his late Majesty King Edward VII. At the same time Empire Day will be preserved as a holiday for public and educational institutions. Clause 2 of the Bill gives a definition of Public Holidays which excludes and includes Bank Holidays. Clauses 3 and 4 set out these holidays, and Clause 7, which is based on section 8 of Ordinance No. 2 of 1875, enables the Governor in-Council to alter them by notification in the Gazette. Clause 5, which is based on section 3 of the last mentioned Ordinance, enables the Governor by Regulations to exclude public officers or Government departments from enjoying all or any such holidays. Clause 6 is based on section 5, 6 and 7 of the said Ordinance and avoids the apparent conflict with section 14 of the Bills of Exchange Ordinance. Clause 8 effects the necessary repeals and modifications in other Ordinances.
Deportation Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to provide for the deportation of undesirable aliens and certain other persons."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are:―
Clause 3 of the Bill is new and is intended to enable any person whose banishment is under consideration to state his own case against banishment and will enable the Governor-in Council to check the charges and pursue his
enquiries with greater certainty of giving a just decision than seems possible under the existing law. The fact that the person questioned is under lawful arrest and in the House of Detention and that no caution is administered will, it is thought, safeguard his interests by preventing the use against him of his answers in other proceedings (R. v. Gavin 15 cox 336, R. v. Male 17 cox 689; R. v. Histed 19 cox 16; R. v. Best 1909, 1 K.B. 692); but to remove all doubts on the point a sub-section to that effect is added to clause 12.
Clause 4 is based on section 4 (1) or Ordinance No. 1 of 1882, the first two sub sections of Clause 5 are based on section 13 of Ordinance No. 10 of 1886 and the last sub section of that clause carries out the evident intention of Article III. of the China and Corea (Amendment) Order in Council 1910. Although as a general rule natural born British subjects are outside the scope of any banishment Ordinance, it is manifestly unjust that when prisoners have been convicted by the consular courts of crimes committed in China and have been sent as a matter of convenience to serve their terms of imprisonment in the Gaol of the Colony, that this Colony should be unable to get rid of them again on their release.
Clause 6 is based on section 4 (1) and (2) of Ordinance No. 1 of 1882, Clause 7 on section 4 (3), Clause 8 on section 5, Clause 9 on section 8 and Clause 10 on section 10 thereof. The increase in the amount of the sentence has been sanctioned by H.M. Secretary of State in a despatch dated the 30th June, 1911. The provisions of Clause 11 and 12 providing for the automatic banishment of Straits deportees have been likewise sanctioned. It will have been noticed that certain sections of Ordinance No. 1 of 1882 have not been re-enacted, although by Clause 13 the whole of that Ordinance is repealed. The reason is that section 3 is seldom acted on and is deemed unnecessary, and that sections 6, 7 and 9 cannot be re-enacted, as they are contrary to the express proviso to Article XIV. of the Letters Patent of the 19th January, 1888, which prevents the Governor (except where the offence has been of a political nature unaccompanied by any other grave crime), from making it a condition of any pardon or remission that the offender shall be banished. The remaining enactments repealed by Clause 13 are now rendered unnecessary as the powers conferred
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by this consolidating Bill cover the cases they were designed to meet.
Magistrates Amendment Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Magistrates Ordinance, 1890-1910."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are: ―This Bill brings into force in the Colony some of the provisions of section 19 of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Ordinance, 1890, of the Straits Settlements. The proviso preserves the effect of the present sub-section (1) of section 86 of the Magistrates Ordinances, 1890-1910.
Dangerous Goods Amendment
Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the law relating to Dangerous Goods."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are:―It has been considered desirable to make imprisonment part of the penalty for offences against section 10 (5) of the Dangerous Goods Ordinance. The only words in the new sub section which are new are "addition thereto such person shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for any period not exceeding six months' and in further."
Arms and Ammunition Amendment Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Arms and Ammunition Ordinance, 1900."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are:―It has been deemed desirable in the case
of offences against the principles Ordinance that the power of the Magistrates to imprison should not be confined to cases where the offender is unable to pay a fine.
Liquors Amendment Ordinance, 1912
THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Liquors Consolidation Ordinance, 1911.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
The Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill are: ―This Bill is introduced in order that licensed warehouses may be classified, as certain classes of such warehouses can stand a higher licence fee than others. At present they may roughly be said to fall into four classes, warehouses for European wines, those for Chinese wines, those for bean curd shops and those for the shops which keep spirits of wine with which to make tinctures and scents.
Jury List
The Council then went into Committee to consider the Jury List in camera.
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held afterwards, the COLONIAL SECRETARY presiding. The following votes were passed:―
Hongkong University
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Five thousand Dollars ($5,000) in aid of the vote Miscellaneous Services, Grants in aid of other Institutions, University of Hongkong, Government Professorship.
Assistant Medical Officer
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of One thousand three hundred and eighty Dollars ($1,380) in aid of the vote Medical Departments, Personal Emoluments, A. ―Staff, Assistant to the Medical Officer for Kowloon.
Law Courts
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 5 Sanitary Vote
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Four hundred and twenty-five Dollars ($425) in aid of the vote Judicial and Legal Departments, Special Expenditure, D.― Law Officers, New Furniture.
Tsim Sha Tsui Market
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Two hundred and eighteen Dollars ($218) in aid of the vote Sanitary Department, Other Charges, Sanitary Staff, Light, Tsim Sha Tsui Market.
Educational
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Seventy-two Dollars ($72) in aid of the vote Education, A.―Department of Director of Education, Other Charges, Praya East English School, Rent.
Police Station Repairs
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Three thousand four hundred Dollars ($3,400) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary, Buildings, Retaining Wall in front of the Tai O Police Station.
Medical Vote
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Sixty-six Dollars ($66) in aid of the vote Medical Departments, B.―Hospitals and Asylums, Other Charges, Civil Hospital, Analytical Apparatus, etc.
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Fifty-four Dollars ($54) in aid of the vote Medical Departments, B.―Charges, Sanitary Staff, Rent of Quarters for Scavenging Coolies.
Harbour Master's Department
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Two thousand five hundred Dollars ($2,500) in aid of the vote Harbour Master's Department, C. ― Steam-Launches, Other Charges, Repairs.
Public Works
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Six hundred and seventy Dollars ($670) in aid of the vote Public Works, Extraordinary, Communications, Hongkong Roads and Streets, Path from Kennedy Road to Boundary Path.
Supreme Court Furniture
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Two thousand Dollars ($2,000) in aid of the vote Judicial and Legal Departments, Special Expenditure, A. ― Supreme Court, Furniture.
Buildings in New Territories
THE GOVERNOR recommended the Council to vote a sum of Four thousand Dollars ($4,000) in aid of the vote Public Works, Recurrent, Buildings, Maintenance of Buildings in New Territories.