655
Chinese appear in both the present and the former petition.
I have taken considerable pains to ascertain the true state of Chinese Hong Kong feeling regarding the question of gambling, and find that the majority of respectable Chinese are in favour of suppression. Many of the Chinese "chopped" and sent the petition which I am forwarding and which was circulated among them in English without fully understanding its purport. It is also worthy of remark that, with one exception, the Committees of the Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk refused to sign, though a meeting was held in the Hospital to discuss the subject of the petition.
Two or three Chinese have also been to this office to explain that the chop of their firm was attached to the petition during their absence or without their having comprehended its meaning.
I have given to understand that Mr. Li Shing and Mr. Lum Pong, large owners of house property in Hongkong, are the prime movers in this matter. Their apprehensions have been aroused by the clause in the new Ordinance making the Landlord responsible, and they have, I am informed, exerted themselves to procure as many signatures to the petition as possible, with a view to induce the Government not to proceed with the new ordinance, and as they are both rich men with a large following, as their wealth commands, they have been able