to protect the gambling establishment and the players from the consequences of
the violation of the Laws. The habit of gaming in multitudinous forms
be said to be a portion of Chinese education, and it is extraordinary how
soon the vice is developed in early
youth.
In this Colony gaming
houses are
supposed to be under the
eyes of
the
Police - but the existence of great
numbers of known - and probably
greater numbers of secret establishments, - and the universal habit wherever
Chinese
are
gathered together,
are facts of notoriety. Now
a few
Chinese
constituted
as is our
Police
system -
without
any immediate prospects
232
of finding Constables who will not wink at and profit by existing abuses - I am rather disposed to conclude that there is a balance of good, - in taking the
gaming houses
under our own immediate care,
and as a revenue
of from £4,000 to £7,000 per annum might be realized from the licensing system - which would enable us to
confer great
benefits in the Colony, it is better that this penalty upon
vice should reach the Government than be
dispersed as at present, among
those
who profit by the weakness of the power of Government, - a weakness "I see no prospect of curing.
Iz
3