and in obedience to Your Lordship's commands,
have the honour to REPORT,
THAT in our opinion the Government of Hong
Kong have power under the Chinese Passenger Act
of 1855 to make Regulations in respect of vessels
proceeding to sea on voyages of less than seven
days duration.
There is no limitation in the 2nd section of
the Aot, which is the source of the authority of
the Legislature of Hong Kong to make Regulations.
The limitations appearing in Schedule A re-
present the scope of the Regulations thought suit-
able when the Act was passed; they do not qualify
the power of the Legislature of Hong Kong to make
other quite different Regulations if they see fit.
The limitations appearing in Sections 4 and
8 of the Act expressly enjoin certain duties upon
ships on voyage of more than seven days and penal-
ties for non-compliance but do not in any way our-
tail the provisions of Section 2.
We therefore see no necessity for any amending
Act, or any other step of that character, con- sidering that the existing law suffices for the
purpose.
(Signed)
We have &c.,
John Rigby.
R. T. Reid.
Act,
248