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577
47
send for and question) I will now leave it to His
Excellency to decide whether charges of inconsistency and
of unparliamentary practice can in justice be made against
me in this connection.
With regard to Point (3) I have the honour to offer
the following remarks:-
In the first place allow me to point out the fact
that the Petition was not in connection with the Bill now
before the Council but in connection with a Bill which
had been withdrawn after a first reading and of which the
present Bill is only an amended copy, the Government
having conceded most of the essential points contended
for by the Petitioners.
For a considerable time after the Bill was first
introduced in the Council, no translation of it into the
Chinese language was published for the information of and
study by the Chinese, and the Chinese were thus compelled
to appeal to me to assist them to an understanding of its
various provisions and of the variations of and amendments
to existing Ordinances sought to be effected by the Bill.
They requested also to explain to them to what extent
such provisions affected their vested interests, and to
formulate and summarise for them in concise language the
force and meaning of the various clauses of the Bill.
Finally, they desired me to draft out in conjunction with
their Solicitors, Messrs. Ewens and Harston(who were
instructed to act in this matter) a Petition to His
Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, not to the Legislative Council, embodying their views and contentions as to the various sections and the hardship
and injustice they felt they would suffer if such Bill
were to become Law.
but
The various consultations in connection with this
Petition and the drafting thereof occupied most of my
daily office hours and sometimes far into the night for
(5)