159 /
Mooting; a fallacy which dominates, the force of the arguments directed against gambling as forbidden by law. Nor are the remedies suggested of a very practical character. An appeal of rewards and punishments, applied to the Police force, is not one which commends itself capable of combination with English standards & the performance of free duties, while the proposed punishments
of hard labour for a short time for the first, and for years for the second gambling offence, are not, I think, such as would altogether approve themselves
to English Statesmen. Further, examination of the names affixed to the Memorial suggests other reflections. The signatories are all Chinese
of the upper class. Now the vice of gambling is not confined to the lower strata of Chinese society. In a report
before me from Inspector J. C. F. Hulse, the Sikh Sing Police, it is stated that Chinese Clubs, where gambling is extensively carried on, are numerous in this city and that "the majority of these Clubs are frequented and kept up by the Chinese aristocracy". These clubs