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for tenders, on the lines of the Jamaica Tramways Law, but there were peculiar circumstances that prevented such a course.
Under the provisions of Ordinance (No.6 of 1883) certain prescriptive rights were given to a Syndicate to construct Tramways on the route to be taken by the proposed Tramway, and while nothing has been done by that Syndicate to exercise their rights, except in respect to one portion of the concession, I was advised they had moral if not legal rights that would render it unsafe to grant a concession covering the same ground as that granted by the old Ordinance. The right of the original concessionaires having been acquired by the Syndicate proposing to construct this Tramway, it was necessary to remove the difficulty so far as they are concerned by legislation.
I enclose for your information a copy of a Bill entitled an Ordinance to amend the scope of the Tramways Ordinance, 1883, (No.6 of 1883), and the Tramways Ordinance Amendment Ordinance, 1883, (No.18 of 1883) repealing the provisions of the former Tramways Ordinances as regards Tramways Nos.1 to 5. This Bill has passed through the Committee of the whole Council, but has not yet been read a third time.
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8.
In my opinion the terms secured by the Bill now submitted are nearly as good as would have been obtained after competition and the construction of this Tramway will be of great importance to Hongkong as a means of solving the difficulty of the congestion in the central portions of the City of Victoria.
9.
I have suggested to Colonel Boyle, who represented