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object on which great stress was laid by His Majesty's Government, viz., the doing away with the giving of bounties for the manufacture of sugar.
The Bill was read a second time
On Clause 2, the Attorney-General moved that the first line should read-"When it has been reported by the Permanent Commission and notified in the Gazette," etc.
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Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-May I ask if this body can be authorised to deal with property of the Church of England in Hongkong and also in China?
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[October 29, 1904. ́objects and reasons Bill. The first purpose is to remove any
appended to the purpose of the Bill therefore is to give doubt as to whether the principal Ordinance any property that they may desire to the Church body legal power to acquire applies to natives of Hongkong, and by the very acquire for the use of the Church.. The principle on which the Ordinance itself is found | Ordinance will not hand over any property The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved that the ed we could not reasonably expect other to the Church body-that is not its purpose. Council go into Committee on the Bill,
countries to bear the burden of our own native It merely enables the Church body to hold any The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded.
imbeciles. The second purpose of the amending property which it may acquire, The Council went into Committee.
Bill is to exclude Chinese from the operation of the principal Ordinance. The Chinese have not in fact created any difficulty in this matter. and it was not the case of the Chinese which the principal Ordinance was designed to meet. We have already a system which has proved satisfactory of dealing with their cases. The third purpose of the Ordinance is formal but necessary to avoid any possible conflict with the China and Japan Order in Council 1865, which provides that in certain events which need not be specified we have to receive British subjects. deported from China. It is obligatory on Hongkong to receive British subjects deported from China. This Ordinance s not meant to clash with that. I beg to move the second reading.
The amendment was adopted.
Hon. GERSHOM STEWART-How are you to enforce the last sentence - Any person im porting into the Colony sugar from such foreign country shall be guilty of a breach of this Ordinance?" There is
no means of knowing what ships bring.
The HARBOUR MASTER-We have always power to take the manifest, and by that means we should discover what they have on board.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL-Regulations are to be made under this ordinance to carry out all the provisions of the Ordinance.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-There is no possibility of judging from the ship's manifest that the sugar is direct or indirect.
1
The COLONIAL SECRETARY-If the hon. member looks at the next section he will see that regulations are to be made.
H.E. the GOVERNOR-I see no reason for cutting out of the provisions of this section.
any Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-It will mean a great deal of extra work,
Clause 2 was passed.
On clause 3, which read as follows:
It shall be lawful for the Governor-in-Council. from time to time as he shall think fit, to make revoke and vary regulations for the purposes of this Ordinance, and in particular for the purpose of requiring that the origin of all sugar imported into the Colony shall be proved by such cer- tificate or other evidence as the said regulations shall provide. The said regulations shall be published in the Gazette, and shall thereupon become as valid as if inserted in this Ordinance,
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN said-That will simply mean a tax on sugar. It will be an extra expense on the Colony to find out where, the sugar comes from.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY-It is in the interests of the sugar industry of the Colony.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-It is not in the in- terests of the Colony itself, Are we sitting here in the interests of the sugar industry of the Colony ?
The COLONIAL SECRETARY-It is one of the largest industries of the Colony.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-It may be one of the largest, but it is not the greatest in the Colony.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—Iudo-China is excluding our sugar because we have not yet complied with the Convention.
H.E. the GOVERNOR-I think the hon. member has hardly studied this question.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-I have not studied the question, but I have listened to the answers of the Colonial Secretary, who says this has to be done. The COLONIAL SECRETARY- If it has to be done it should be done. It is a pity the hon. member did not read the proof of this Bill. He asked for a proof and has not read it.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-I never asked for a proof.
The GOVERNOR-Does the hon. member not wish to carry out the terms of the Convention
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-No.
Hon. GERSHOM STEWART-I did not know what machinery the Colony bad. We pride ourselves upon being a free port, and I was won- dering how we could ensure the carrying out of these provisions.
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The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded.
The ATTORNey-General-We have prac- tically no power of enforcing any rights that such a body might obtain in respect of property in China, but common practice, or
I think it is a * practice at home, to confer these powers for what they are worth over property in other countries. If a corporate body is specially constituted so that it
to
cannot hold property abroad
it is perfectly clear that it need not attempt
do 80. All we can do is to say--"You are entitled to hold property any- where you like and so far as you ran do it we give you the power to do 80. We cannot
The Bill passed the second reading and the enforce the rights of the Church body in Chins, Council went into Committee.
On clause 2, which read as follows:- Section 4 of the principal Ordinance shall be amended by the addition of the following words at the end thereof :--
"nor to natives of the Colony, nor to persons of Chinese nationality, nor to persons deported from China under the provisions of the China and Japan Order in Council, 1865,"
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN said-Are Chinese imbeciles to be allowed to enter the Colony? We don't want imbecile Chinese here.
The GOVERNOR- This is a point that was specially asked for by the Chamber of Commerce, and as I thought it right to meet their wishes, the words nor to persons of Chinese Nationality has been inserted in the Clause.
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•
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-The Chamber of Commerce is not the whole colony, and I cannot believe even the Chamber of Commerce wishes imbecile Chinese in the Colony any more than anybody else does,
The COLONIAL SECRETARY--The Chamber of Commerce expressed the feeling that this should be in the Bill.
Hon. R. G. SHEWAN-It is no reason that because they wish a thing they should get it. I would come forward with some wishes to- morrow if I thought the Governor would grant them.
The Bill passed Committee, Hon R. G. Shewan dissenting.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved, if no mem-. ber objected, the third reading of the Bill.
Hon R. G. SHEWAN objected, and the third reading was postponed.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN HONGKONG
AND CHINA.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proposed the second reading of a Bill, entitled An Ordinance to enable the Trustees of Saint John's Cathedral Church in Hongkong to hold and deal with property for the purpose of promoting the work of the Church of England in Hongkong and China. He said--The occasion for this Bill is that there is no local body possessing a gene- ral power to hold property for the use of the Church of England, and the need for such a body appears to have been for some time felt. There is already property within the diocese belonging to the Church of England, or which has been devoted to the use of the Church of England, and in all probability as time goes on there will be more property in that position. At present all such property is vested in private individuals, an arrangement that is obviously, I think, unj satisfactory both for the security of the property concerned and the facility of dealing with such property as may from time to time be necessary. It is proposed to constitute a permanent cor- porate body in which property of this kind can be rested. The only body available for The ATTORNEY-GENERAL in moving the this purpose, existing at the present time, is the to amend the Imbecile Persons Introduction Cathedral Church in Hongkong, and this body second reading of a Bill entitled An Ordinance church body called the trustees of Saint John's Ordinance, 1903, said--This is to amend the has under the Cathedral Ordinance certai Ordinance which was passed in January of powers. It has now expressed a desire or the present year. and the reasons for willingness to have these powers enlarged in doing so were threefold as shown in the the degree contemplated by this Bill. The
The GOVERNOR-The hon. member the Harbour Master answered that question.
Clause 3 was then passed. The Bill passed through Committee, and on the Council resuming the Bill was read a third time and passed.
IMBECILE PERSONS.
but we can tell them-" You are entitled to hold property there if you think it expedient to do so.. Hon, R. G. SHEWAN-The title does not say that we enable them to deal with property in China,
member should bring up the question of the title The GOVERNOR-I suggest that the hon. in Committee.
The Bill passed the second reading, hon. R. G. Shewan dissenting.
རྟ
The Council went into Committee on the Bill. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that while the Council could not enforce the rights of the Church body over property in China they could give them power to hold such property.
Hon. Dr. Ho KAI supported the Attorney. General.
The Bill passed Committee, Hor. R. G. Shewan dissenting.
The third reading was postponed. The Council adjourned till Thursday, 3rd November, at 3 p.m.
SUPREME COURT.
Wednesday, 26th October.
IN APPELLATE JURISDICTION.
BEFORE THEIR HONOURS SIR HENRY S. BERKELEY (CHIEF JUSTICE) AND T. SER-
COMBE SMITH (PUISNE JUDGE).
TANG TEZ UV. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL
A motion at the instance of Tang Tez U.in the case of Tang Taz U against the Attorney- General came under consideration. The appel- lant claims land in the New Territories, claim C. A. Survey district No. 4.
Mr. M. W Slade of counsel appeared for the
E. Pollock, K.C., represented the Crown. appellant. The Attorney-General and Mr.
Mr. Slade moved that the hearing of the appeal be adjourned sine die so as to enable the appellant to properly prepare his case fer trial and also to enable the appellant to make an application to the Court for leave to adduce evidence in reply to that filed by the respondent.
The Attorney-General said he would not oppose the motion on the first ground, but he objected to an adjournment being granted for the purpose of adducing further evidence.
The Chief Justice said. another application forward further evidence. would have to be made for permission to bring
The Attorney-General remarked that if there were any further evidence this case would not. come on for another twelve months.
for postponement on the ground of affording The Chief Justice-We feel the application
the appellant further time for digesting and considering this case is not an unusual one. We are therefore prepared to grant that ap- plication. We feel also there must be some
do, subject to anything we may hear from the finality as to the evidence that is to be offered to this Court. Therefore what we propose to bar, is to adjourn the hearing of this appeal and to limit the appellant to one month to make any application he may be advised to make with respect to
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