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88
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY, PRESS AND
ments being allowed to grow up side by side with it and to cramp its growth. The British and American Settlements at Shanghai were amalgamated and made into a cosmopolitan Settlement, but France declined to join in the combination, electing to reserve her concession to herself, to be used as a lever, it may be assumed, for future political and territorial aggrandise- ment. ́ ́ Under the circumstances of the cuse the extension now demanded seems to possess very considerable political importance.
A LEGISLATIVE ABSĮ RDITY,
:
[February 4, 1899.
never been asentimental grounds there has Volunteer brigades are useful in small
■ any occasion to regret the step. places which cannot support a permanent paid force, but in large cities it is more advisable that the work of extinguishing fires should be confided to a thoroughly disciplined, organised, and adequately paid 2 brigade. In the first three weeks of the present year no less than thirteen fires oc curred at Shanghai resulting in an estimated- loss of Tls. 120,000. The annual cost of the Hongkong Fire Brigade is about $30,000, an expenditure which cannot but be re- garded as a sound investment. It was not on the question of efficiency that the Hong- kong Volunteer Fire Brigade was disbanded, however, but because in view of the increas- ing demands made upon its services employers raised objections to their staff belonging to it. Men cannot be employed all night at a fire and be expected to be ready for office work next morning. Considerations of this character must apply at Shanghai as forcibly as at Hongkong.
enactment goes into operation we fancy that even H.E. the Governor may very" arising from the continuous increase of life time and energies of the Fire Brigade often render himself liable to be law- "and property to be protected in these Settle- fully stopped, seized, apprehended, and "ments," to quote the words of the Shanghai detained, and thereupon to be taken before Fire Insurance Association's resolution, it may a Police Magistrate. ladies will be the greatest sinners against present Volunteer Fire Brigade at Shanghai Probably, however, | possibly be deemed advisable to replace the the law. If they go to a ten party or by a paid Municipal Brigade. It is now some bathing party, do not return until after years since the Hongkong Volunteer Fire sunset, and have forgotten to order lanterns, Brigade was dissolved, and except possibly they also will be liable to be lawfully social and stopped, seized, apprehended, and detained, and thereupon to be taken before a Police Magistrate to be dealt with according to (Daily Press, 3rd February.)
law? In the summer evenings private The new law requiring private chairs to chairs may be seen by the score waiting for carry lights between sunset and sunrise their owners' return from bathing parties, might fittingly serve Mr. HEEBERT
not one of them provided with lights, SPENCER as an example of the follies although it is generally after sunset before of legislators. At the meeting of the
the launches, return. It would cause Legislative Council on Wednesday the little commotion if all the ladies Acting Attorney-General remarked that it of a bathing party upon getting into their was as necessary that private vehicles chairs were lawfully stopped, seized, appre- should carry lights as public vehicles, hended and detained, and thereupon taken The hon. gentleman made no attempt to
before a Police Magistrate. There is this demonstrate the necessity, which, in fact, so
difference between the law as to carrying far as private chairs are concerned, is lights on wheeled vehicles and the law as non-existent and therefore incapable of de- to carrying lights on private chairs, that in monstration. At the same meeting of the one case the law only requires a person Council the Captain-Superintender of
to do what his own common sense and Police showed that it was unnecessary to prudence should dictate even if the Inw impose certain suggested regulations with
were non-existent, and that in the other it regard to trollies, because there were fewer imposes an obligation which is unnecces- vehicle accidents in Hongkong thau in any
sary. In the case of street chairs the other city of equal size and the accid-compulsory carrying of lamps may be ents caused by trollies last year reached the advisable from a police point of view, but
large" total of two. By parity of reason-
that consideration does not apply to private ing it might be shown that the regulation chairs. The owners of the latter might requiring private chairs to carry lights is reasonably be trusted to carry lights when unnecessary, for if the records were searched they are required and be allowed to do with- from the date of the foundation of the out them when they are unnecessary. colony up to the present time we doubt whether mention could be found of even one accident caused by the absence of such lights. In the early days of the colony when the public lighting of the streets was either non-existent or in a very primitive condition no one thought of moving about at night, either in chair or on foot, without lights, but as the public lighting improved the necessity for carrying private |
·lights diminished, and now it is the excep- tion rather than the rule for private chairs to carry lights unless they are being used for journeys beyond the city limits. The lights when carried are for the convenience of the occupant and the bearers and not for traffic considerations, for in the districts where chairs are used, with one or two exceptions, there is no wheeled traffic, and the danger of collision between two chairs is of too at- tenuated a character to legitimately excite the concern of our legislators On the short stretch of Queen's Road and the roads leading to the Club and the wharves, where private chairs may be seen in the evening, the illumination is sufficiently bright to render the carrying o; private lights un- necessary, either for the protection of the persons using the chairs or for the conven- ience of the traffic in general,
"
A little consideration of how the law will work will show its undesirability. A man living say on the Robinson Road level goes to his office in his chair and returns at seven or half-past seven in the evening; the lights have been forgetten, as they are very apt to be at noonday, and the result is that for riding in a chair with out a lantern along roads illuminated with the electric light and Welsbach burners he may, either with or without any warrant, be lawfully stopped, seized, apprehended, and detained by any police constable and thereupon taken before a Police Magistrate to be dealt with according to law. If the
n
THE SHANGHAI FIRe brigadE.
(Daily Press, 3rd February.)
at Shanghai the Fire Insurance Association In view of the increasing frequency of fires of that port recently addressed the Munici- pal Council requesting that body to call the attention of the Chinese authorities to the inadequate sentences imposed in arson cases and also to appoint a Committee to report on such remedial measures as they might deem effective for the strengthening of the Fire Brigade. These requests have been complied with by the Council. The Com- mittee appointed to report with reference to the Fire Brigade might perhaps do worse than take a trip to Hongkong to examine on the spot the organisation and equipment of our local Fire Brigade. There was a time in this colony when fires were alarmingly frequent and very destructive in their ef- fects. All that has been altered and there are now probably few places which in pro- portion to their size possess better appliances and organisation for the prevention and ex- tinction of fires than Hongkong. crime of arson was checked by the skill The of the detective service in bringing home the crime and by the infliction of ex- emplary sentences by the Supreme Court. Yet it may be doubted whether the con- victions obtained have in themselves had such a deterrent effect as the difficulty now experienced of getting a fire well under way before the firemen arrive and put it out, with the consequent risk of the evidences of arson being discovered if such a crime has been attempted. The majority of fires are now extinguished in their incipient stage, and where that is not the case it is seldom that much of the surrounding pro- perty beyond the house in which the out- break occurs becomes involved. "In view ... of the constantly increasing tax on the
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.
On lat February a meeting of the Hong. kong Legislative Council was held in the Council Chamber at the Government Offices, there being present:-
His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR, Sir HenryTM BLAKE, G.C.M.G.
C.M.G. (Offieer Commanding the Troops).
His EXCELLENCY Major-General GASCOIGNE
Hon. T. SERCOMBE SMITH (Acting Colonial
Secretary).
Hon. H. E. POLLOCK (Acting Attorney. General).
intendent of Police).
Hon. R. MUEBAY RUMSEY (Harbour Master). Hon. F. H. May, C.M.G. (Captain Super-
Treasurer).
Hon. A. M. THOMSON (Acting Colonial
Works).
Hon. R. D. OBMSBY (Director of Public
Hon. C. P. CHATER, C.M.G Hon. Dr. Ho KAI.
Hon. E. R. BELILIOS, C.M.G. Hon. J. J. BELL-leving. Hon. WEI A YUK.
Mr. . G. T. BUCKLE (Clerk of Councils). MINUTES.
read and adopted as a correct record.
The minutes of the previous meeting
THE PROPOSED NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING?.
Hon. E. R. BELILIOS-Your Excellency, I the Legislative Council I intend to ask the fol- beg to give notice that at the next meeting of
state why, as the sites for the proposed new lowing questions (1) Will the Government
selected, and the plans of the former, at any Law Courts and new Post Office have been rate, have been considered, steps are not taken to carry the proposals into effect?___(2) Will the Government state whether, the Secretary of State for the Colonies has sanotioned the schéme just put before him by the Government? for the new public buildings above mentioned
submit the first question, because I think you His EXCELLENCY—I do not think you can will see if you refer to" Parliamentary Practics" that it is hardly in order. The question aska for an opinion. You can ask a question of fact, been done, I do not think that can Government. The second question is quite in but when you ask why a certain thing has not
order. I should suggest that the other question
■ be put to the
should be remodelled into a