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The Attorney General-Of course, there are two sets of costs. As regards the costs of the action against Sir William Robinson, your Lordship had only the advantage of hearing one side in that matter. You heard the full argument of Mr. Francis.
Mr. Francis-You heard the Attorney General for days.
His Lordship-If I remember rightly you argued it fully.
The Attorney General said he had prepared a very elaborate argument which, he thought, would have had the result of a verdict in his favour with costs, but he never had an opportunity of putting before the Court his view. The actual facts were all on record. A mandamus was applied for in the previous action for the Court to order Sir William Robinson to take into consideration and investigate the claim. His learned friend argued in favour of that. He (the Attorney General) prepared an argument in reply, but owing to pressure of business the Court did not continue the hearing, and in the meantime Sir William Robinson had gone.
Thereupon Mr. Francis asked that instead of Sir William Robinson Major-General Black's name be inserted. His reply to that was that the Court could not be asked to grant a mandamus until the person to whom the mandamus was to be issued had refused to do a thing he had been asked to be made to do, and Major-General Black had never been asked to make any award. It was left in that way.
He contended that in that case the proceedings were absolutely unnecessary; they came to nothing.
His Lordship said-There is not enough before me to induce me to depart from my finding, but I will express this opinion:-Supposing the issues of fact had been tried before the issues of law had been tried and determined, and you had proved to me that your allegations were well founded, I should not have awarded the costs to the defendants. But on the issue of law as now decided, I must give the defendant his costs. I think the best course will be to submit the matter to the Governor.
After
Mr. Francis-If your Lordship thinks the Governor or the Attorney General will admit anything to be true, I am afraid it will be a very great mistake. The extremely liberal promises that were made in Court by the Attorney General, it is utterly hopeless to expect anything in the shape of justice.
His Lordship-If these allegations are in any substantial degree well founded, the Governor might properly forego the costs.
Mr. Francis-Your Lordship will see these allegations are well founded.
His Lordship-I am speaking of the allegations as to the mode of conducting the inquiry.
The Court was then adjourned.
Appendix VII.
IN THE MATTER OF HONGKONG MARINE LOT No. 181
AND
THE PRAYA RECLAMATION ORDINANCE 1889.
WE, Robert Kennaway Leigh of Victoria in the Colony of Hongkong Civil Engineer, Land Surveyor and Valuator, and James Orange of the same place Civil Engineer, Land Surveyor and Valuator, do solemnly and sincerely declare and say as follows that is to say ---
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And first. I, the said Robert Kennaway Leigh for myself say:
1.-I am a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, and I was for three years an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department of Hongkong and since that time I have for the past 16 years been in private practice in Hongkong as a Civil Engineer, Land Surveyor and Valuator, and have had during such last mentioned 16 years considerable experience in ascertaining and computing the value of lands and buildings in various parts of Hongkong and I believe myself well qualified to judge of the value of Marine Lot No. 184, Hongkong, hereinafter mentioned and of like property in the vicinity thereof.
And I, the said James Orange for myself say:--
2.—I am a Member of Institution of Civil Engineers, London, also a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, also a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, and a Member of the Society of Architects, and I was for six and a half years an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department of Hongkong and Resident Engineer of the Tytam Water Works, Hongkong, and since that time I have for the past 9 years been in private practice in Hongkong as a Civil Engineer, Land Surveyor and Valuator, and have had during such last mentioned 9 years considerable experience in ascertaining and computing the value of lands and buildings in various parts of Hongkong and I believe myself well qualified to judge of the value of Marine Lot No. 184, Hongkong, hereinafter mentioned and of like property in the vicinity thereof.
And we the said Robert Kennaway Leigh and James Orange severally say:-
3-We have in pursuance of instructions received from Messrs. Stephens & Howard, the owners of the said Marine Lot 184, made a careful survey, estimates and valuations of the said Marine Lot 184, and in so doing we have taken into consideration the tenure and situation of the said Lot, the nature of the business for which the buildings erected thereon had been erected and used and what would be a fair price to be realised on a sale thereof both as a Marine Lot before the Praya Reclamation Ordinance 1889 was carried into effect and as an Inland Lot now that the works of the Praya Reclamation are proceeding in front of the said Lot, and we have embodied our said Estimates and Valuations in our Report dated the 28th day of December, 1898, which Report is hereunto annexed marked A.
4.--We say that our said Report is a true and correct statement of the facts and figures therein given and set forth to the best of our knowledge information and belief.
And we severally make this solemn Declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true by virtue of the provisions of "The Statutory Declarations Act, 1835."
SEVERALLY DECLARED by the said ROBERT KENNAWAY LEIGH & JAMES ORANGE at the Supreme Court House Victoria in Hongkong this Seventeenth day of February 1899.
(Signed) R. K. LEIGH,
(Signed) J. ORANGE.
Before me,
THE SEAL OF THE
SUPREME COURT OF HONGKONG.
LS
(Signed) A. SETH.
Acting Registrar of the Supreme Court of Hongkong, and a Commissioner to Administer Oaths.