hardship, as indicated in the preceding paragraph; and it was also considered, after reading the report of the despatch no. 204 of 15th June 1886, that it was most desirable to make general provisions, at the same time, regulating the sale and carrying, possession, of arms.
Every week reports one or more robberies with violence committed by several persons armed with swords and other weapons are made by the Police; and the practice of carrying arms appears from the Police reports to have been extending considerably amongst the criminal classes of the Colony during the last two years.
Under the existing law (Sec. 18 of Ordinance 14 of 1870) any Chinese, the holder of a night pass, may carry arms; and the Captain Superintendent of Police reports that there are over six thousand night passes issued quarterly.