Suspending
cikare.
Though a verdict or decree is given for the plaintiff, he shall not have costs against the defendant unless the Judge before whom the trial is had certifies his approbation of the suit or action.
22. This Ordinance shall not come into operation unless and until the Officer Administering the Government notifies by Proclamation that it is Her Majesty's pleasure not to disallow the same and thereafter it shall come into operation upon such day as the Officer Administering the Government shall notify by the same or any other Proclamation.
Passed the Legislative Council of Hongkong, this 19th day of June, 1893.
SIR,
REPORT BY THE HONOURABLE T. H. WHITEHEAD.
HONGKONG, 29th April, 1893.
No.
Clerk of Councils.
Assented to by His Excellency the Governor, the day of June, 1893.
SCHEDULE.
Colonial Secretary. Permanent Board of Directors.---Sections 2 and 5, Pó Léang Kuk Ordinance, 1893, Ex Officio Members. Registrar General.Member of Legislative Council for the time being representing the Chinese. Name Firm Other Members Occupation No. of Years resident in Hongkong.
Remarks 1 Chan Pau-pò (W). Manager of the Chu Wing On Bank, About 30
Partner Kwong Mán-wo (DHA) 2 Cheng Mau-tsong (H), Managing Partner Sui Kat Firm. 7 3 Kwok Lai-tün (24). 30 4 Lau Shai-chák (TX), Manager of the Hop Hing (A) Firm. 30 5 Lau Wai-ch'un (Compradore, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. 20
12 ject and Justice of the Peace. 6 Leung Pui-chi (Z),.............. Partner in the Shiú Fung (1) Bank. 25
13
37
33
30 A British subject hom 7 Wai Long-sháu (LI). Compradore, E. E. Telegraph Compy., ४ Yung Kung-pò (),... Compradore, Messrs. Haji Ali Angar and H. Ismail. Naturalized British sub-
I cannot concur in the unmeasured praise given in the report of the majority of the Committee, to the Pó Léung Kuk, nor can I concur in their recommendations as to the future working of the Society. I therefore submit for the consideration of His Excellency, the Governor in this separate report my opinions on the various points in discussion, and my reasons, based entirely on the evidence taken by the Committee, in support of these views.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY,
1. With the Rules of the 5th August, 1882, before me I have no hesitation in saying that the Pó Leung Kuk as a separate and distinct Society never had an existence until 1892. It was to consist of members residents of the Colony who had subscribed $10 or upwards to the funds. It was to be managed by a Committee of ten members elected annually at a meeting of members. It was to provide a Home for the accommodation of destitute women and children in Hongkong.
2. There is no evidence that there ever were any subscribers to the Pó Léung Kuk as a separate and distinct Society. For 1878 and 1879 there are no lists and no accounts, the cost of providing food was borne by the Tung Wah Hospital; any other costs and expenses were borne by Mr. Fung Ming Shan and others, the first members of the Committee, out of their own pockets. There are accounts from August, 1880, or thereabouts to August, 1892, and they show that the total receipts of the Society during these twelve years amounted from subscriptions and contributions from the Directors to $1,330. In addition there have been loans from the Tung Wah Hospital and the Man Mo Temple to the amount of $2,600, and from the Government grants or gifts of $1,050. No Home has ever been established or attempted to be established. The women and girls were housed in the Tung Wah Hospital to the great inconvenience of patients there, and to the very doubtful advantage of the women and girls themselves, and food and clothing has been found by the Tung Wah, a separate and distinct Corporation. There have been no annual meetings of subscribers to the Pó Léung Kuk, for there were none, and of course no proper elections of members of the Committee. The meetings have either been meetings of members of the Tung Wah, or of the general public, and the persons elected have been generally the Tung Wah Committee men. It is not even certain (see the discussion between the Honourable Ho Kai and the Chairman at the 11th meeting of the Commission) on what principle or how the Chairman of the Pó Leung Kuk was elected or appointed or whether there was an election or a mere nomination. A book containing the names of the original members of the Society in 1881 has been produced (see appendix 43), but there is no register of later date. It is evident that the book cannot be correct because if there were then 122 members there must have been at least $1,220 to the credit of the Society, but in 1880-1882 nothing appears in the accounts but subscriptions from the Directors, receipts from the former Emigration Enquiry Office, and a subscription of $100 from the Lai Hing firm.
3. I desire to call attention further to the facts that no efforts appear to have been made to raise subscriptions and form a fund until 1892, although the Government had frequently urged the Directors to do so, that the fund raised in 1892 was raised on the statement made to the Directors that no Government aid could be expected until the
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