Passenger ships shall clear out for a voyage for more than seven days duration, without a certificate from an Emigrant officer, to which my observations referred in my Despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong laid before H.E. under the power vested by the Act in H.M.
The voyage for Hong Kong to Manilla is sometimes made in five days, at other times in 15, according to the Monsoons, & two British ships, the "Clarendon" & the "Queen of England" are announced for Hong Kong as having each made the passage in three days. I am informed that an average passage to Manilla from Amoy, where Chinese Coolies are chiefly shipped, is 7 days with the favourable Monsoon, and may be 15 when against it.
If the case of the "Fortuna" were to be referred solely to the Act of Parliament, which does not make applicable to voyages of less than 7 days the Regulations of the Chinese Passengers' Act, it might become a disputable question whether the voyage to Amoy & Manilla is or is not within that space of time, but if the Governor of Hong Kong in Legislative Council, in exercise of the power given by the Act relative to distance, have excluded Manilla from being within the 7 days, the case of the "Fortuna" is a clear violation or disregard of the law.
[signed] J.W. Farren.