8226915
24
MEMORIAL FROM THE COMMITTEE TO H. E. THE GOVERNOR.
HONGKONG, 24 October, 1856.
SIR—We have the honor to acquaint Your Excellency that, at a Public Meeting held on the 16th inst. in this City, we (the undersigned) were appointed a Committee for the purpose of drawing up a Memorial accompanied by the Minutes of the Meeting, to be laid before Your Excellency in Council, praying that you may see fit to amend the Ordinances referred to, in accordance with the views expressed by the Meeting; and we were further authorized to lay before Your Excellency a subsequent resolution to that by which we were appointed.
We have therefore the honor of enclosing a copy of the Minutes of the Public Meeting, and of accompanying them by a few remarks on the subject of the respective Resolutions.
We do not think it necessary to trouble Your Excellency with many comments upon the First Resolution. The practical operation of the Ordinances Nos. 8 and 12 of 1856, to which it relates, has caused a panic among the Chinese, who not only do not desire to acquire more property in the Colony, but would gladly dispose of what they already possess. It is perhaps unnecessary to indicate to Your Excellency that the prosperity of the Colony in a great measure depends upon the resident Chinese population, and that it is in the highest degree improbable that this class of the population will ever be brought to see either the justice or expediency of such enactments, so long as they are held to apply retrospectively.
In regard to the Second Resolution, we would remark, that we are unacquainted with any other enactment similar to that to which this resolution relates: it appears to be, not merely inconsistent with the dignity of the Crown, but incompatible with the liberty of the subject. We are aware that under special statute the Crown does in some instances take costs, and in some instances it takes and gives costs, but in no case does it exact costs without paying them in the event of judgment being given against it. We view therefore with regret an attempt to introduce in this Colony a principle not acted upon elsewhere, and which seems to possess a dangerous tendency.
In submitting to Your Excellency the Third Resolution, we would only remark, that its suggestion possesses the sanction of the Parliamentary Committee of 1847, of which Your Excellency was a member—viz. that the Drafts of Ordinances should remain before the public three or six months before being passed.
With regard to the final Resolution, we would also beg Your Excellency's attention to the Report of the same Committee, in which the institution of some such body is recommended; and we respectfully beg the favor of Your Excellency's opinion as to the form of its Constitution, whereby we may have the advantage of possessing the views of one who had its necessity in contemplation long before it became evident to your Memorialists, and to those whom they represent.
It is also our duty to bring to Your Excellency's notice the strong expression of opinion of a numerous and respectable body of Chinese inhabitants who attended the Meeting, relative to the inefficiency of the Police Force of this Colony, and in which the Meeting generally could not but concur.
In conclusion, we beg to lay the Minutes of the Public Meeting and these remarks before Your Excellency, in the full confidence that the views and opinions which they express will receive your early and favorable consideration,—believing as we firmly do, that the best interests of this Colony will be found to be closely associated with their adoption.
We have, &c.,
JOSEPH JARDINE,
E. PEREIRA.
G. LYALL.
D. LAPRAIK.
W. A. BOWRA.
for R. C. ANTROBUS,
E. Pereira
To His Excellency
SIR JOHN BOWRING,
&c., &c., &c.
(True Copy)
Colonial Secretary