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A question, a copy of which you enclosed, had been put in the House of Commons as to the increase of an alleged prevalence of Chinese gambling houses in this Island, and that the same subject had been alluded to in the London and China Telegraph of the 24th June, and requesting me to send an early report on the matter.
That gambling does exist to a considerable extent in the Colony cannot be questioned, and for several years past the attention of the Government has, in one way and another, been drawn to this fact.
3. In 1879 a Commission was appointed by Sir John Pope Hennessy to enquire into the matter. This Commission never made any report; the reasons for its not having done so were