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so attached may, if a Magistrate in his discretion shall so order, be forfeited to the Crown, &c.
9.- The object in view in passing this Ordinance and the reasons which have appeared to His Excellency the Governor to justify the conferring of such very extraordinary and highly unconstitutional powers on the Registrar General are fully set forth in the speech of His Excellency in the Legislative Council when the Bill was before the Council on its second reading. I enclose a copy of said speech from the local Hansard, a publication which has the advantage of having its reports of speeches in the Council corrected by the speakers.
According to His Excellency's statement the sole object of the Ordinance is to enable the Chinese residents in the New Territories to be compelled, under penalties, to give all particulars about their holdings and titles, some reluctance having been shown by the inhabitants in registering their lands and attending when summoned by the Registrar General to receive his explanations on the subject. The inhabitants of the New Territories have been slow to come in and register their lands.
The cause of this slowness is supposed to be due to their ignorance and their suspicions as to the possible dangers to themselves if they register. The Government is naturally desirous of enlightening their ignorance, dissipating their suspicions, and have invited the men to come into Hongkong and have their difficulties explained away.
May I point out that the Government when inviting these poor people, and they are mostly all of the very poorest of the agricultural class, to come into Hongkong has never offered to pay either the cost of their passage to and fro, nor the expenses of their detention in Hongkong, nor any compensation for any loss of their time. Many of these men would have a journey of ten or fifteen or twenty or even more miles over hills or by sea.
It has not been made clear that the Government has done everything that was reasonably possible to do to enlighten the men by Proclamations posted in their respective villages or by the publication or distribution of leaflets. These people are amongst the