Or there will be a serious, regular, unbroken blockade. Steamers will be searched down to the very last package, the personal luggage of passengers will be searched; everything will be put a stop to until this search has been carried out; the steamers themselves may possibly be open to confiscation in case opium is found on board in possession of a passenger or fireman. If we adapt the Kowloon plan, the freedom of the port goes; we shall have to frame repressive laws; our prison will be full of offenders, not against our own laws but those of China, because if we are to work this plan we must work it honestly and fairly and carry out our engagements to China. Now, sir, that is the position. We have to choose between these three inconveniences. The effective blockade plan, I take it, will not be looked upon for one moment, the hulk plan hardly more so, and we are then driven back on Mr. Russell's plan, the plan for prohibiting dealings in broken chests of opium; and we should accept this, if only lest perchance we fall into something worse. The retail trade is doomed, I will not say to extinction, but to modification, by the additional duty which the Chinese are resolved to levy under all circumstances. As to the other objection, which refers to the powers given by the Bill to the Opium Farmer, that can probably be adjusted. But our word I will say as to our present Farmers. They are very satisfactory people to do business with. They came here from Singapore with strong recommendations from Sir Cecil Smith, and I have always found them to be diligent and attentive people; they mean what they say, and they have never given any trouble whatever or made extravagant demands. Their manager came to me yesterday and asked me a very pertinent question. "Why," he said, "do these gentlemen say I am going to give trouble? Have I ever given trouble in Singapore?"
That seems to me to go to the root of the matter. The man never has given trouble in Singapore, and I do not suppose there is any probability he will give trouble here. As to our opium revenue, I trust the Council will not neglect this opportunity of improving it. My hon. friend opposite (Hon. P. Ryrie) has urged we were not and are not getting sufficient for our opium farm, but under the circumstances detailed by the Acting Attorney-General we have not been able to improve our excise revenue from opium. The efforts which were made to improve it were not successful. The duty was forced up too high and too suddenly, and I will not say we were within measurable distance of losing our opium revenue altogether, because the distance was so small as not to be measurable. Several officers around this table know how near we were to losing everything unless it were the miserable remnant of opium consumed in this colony, and that would have been collected under the greatest disadvantages. In face of our numerous public works we cannot afford to neglect any opportunity of replenishing the exchequer if we can do it consistently with the public welfare. I cannot resume my seat without adding my tribute, whatever it may be worth, to the capacity, vigilance, tact, and sagacity displayed by Mr. Russell in this matter. I feel the interests of the colony have been well represented by him and could not have been placed in better hands, and I think every member of the Council will agree with me. I beg to second the motion.
Hon. C. P. CHATER—Sir, the important measure now before the Council has caused those merchants interested in the opium trade a certain amount of anxiety, and which has resulted in the petitions forwarded to your Excellency, and which, by your permission, have just been read by the Clerk of Councils. The merchants of this colony, anxious as they are to assist the Government in its endeavour to stop smuggling into China, feel nevertheless that the present Ordinance in its existing form threatens one particular branch of trade in the gravest possible manner. They have therefore petitioned your Excellency to postpone the second reading of this Bill until such a date as would give them ample time to consider the matter thoroughly and prepare their objections to the various clauses of the Ordinance, and to see whether the same end could be attained by less inconvenient means. Believing as I do that this object can be effected without harassing the opium trade, and having some suggestions myself to elaborate before the Bill goes into Committee—suggestions which I think would in some measure meet the difficulty,—I beg to propose that the second reading of this Bill be postponed to this day three weeks, and I also propose that the petitioners be heard by Counsel as to their objection to the said Ordinance.
Hon. A. P. MACEWEN—I beg to second the proposition of my hon. friend.
The ACTING ATTORNEY-GENERAL—I have already mentioned that it is necessary this Bill should be passed as soon as possible, because the action to be taken at Macao depends on our proceedings here. But there are also other reasons. I believe your Excellency is anxious to see this Bill put through before your departure, and I believe his Honour the Chief Justice is also about to leave us for a short time. It is therefore most advisable the second reading of this Bill should not be postponed until such a date as would delay its passing until after your Excellency's departure. I would therefore suggest that instead of this day three weeks the second reading be postponed until a special meeting to be held on Tuesday next. It might then be debated and if necessary further adjourned.
Hon. P. RYRIE—I beg to say I support my two hon. friends in the idea of a postponement of this Bill. It is a most important Bill and one that will certainly affect the trade of this colony most seriously, and it has never been referred to the Chamber of Commerce. Bills have often been referred to the Chamber before, and Bills of far less importance than this is, but we have not been called upon to consider it. We have had a requisition from the parties interested to hold a meeting, and it is our intention to hold a meeting, but we certainly expected we should have received some requisition from the Government. I could point out a number of inaccuracies in the remarks of my two hon. friends who have proposed and seconded the second reading. For instance, my hon. friend on the left (the Acting Attorney-General) speaks of the large increase in the duty on opium. There is no increase. The lekin has been collected for years and years. It is only transferred to a different department. So that falls to the ground.
The CHIEF JUSTICE—There is an increase in the lekin.
Hon. P. RYRIE—The COLONIAL TREASURER—There was a discount of 10 per cent. before.
Hon. P. RYRIE—But they only got that in Hongkong.
The ACTING ATTORNEY-GENERAL—I rise to order, sir. I never said there had been any increase in the lekin. I said it was fixed by the Treaty at Tls. 80, and before it was fixed by the Viceroys, and varied in the different provinces. By the Additional Article it is fixed at Tls. 80, which has to be paid by the purchaser before he takes delivery.
Hon. P. RYRIE—I would say this question is one that requires very serious consideration and the idea that the Bill is to be forced through because two of the leading members of this Council are leaving shortly I think is rather a poor excuse. We cannot afford to run the risk of forcing a Bill that may seriously affect the commerce of the port. The matter is one that was brought up about five years ago in this Council at a private meeting—I think there were only unofficials present—and it was considered a most inadvisable measure, a measure that would destroy the freedom of this port which it will do. There has been a good deal of talk about the removal of the blockade. Now, I should like to know if that is to be removed. It is merely transferred from the hands of Chinese to European officers and I am very glad of it. I think it a move in the right direction. But still I will do justice to the Chinese who have been managing it for some years past by saying that complaints have been very few. Perhaps many complaints have been withheld, but it is the fact that there have been very few brought forward. With reference to the complaint referred to in the Chamber of Commerce the other day, had I known it was such a trivial one as it was afterwards explained to be by the gentleman who wrote the letter, it would never have appeared in the Chamber's report. With reference to the Opium Farmer examining the godowns, my hon. friend opposite (the Colonial Treasurer) said he would never give any trouble. By article 6 he is bound to examine them five times a month under a penalty of $500.
The COLONIAL TREASURER—No; he may if he likes.
Hon. P. RYRIE—But he is bound by a penalty. "If the Opium Farmer shall neglect or refuse, or shall without sufficient cause unreasonably delay to do any of the acts or things hereinbefore provided and required to be done by him, he shall be liable to a penalty for each such offence not exceeding five hundred dollars."