C. COPY.
Enclosure 3.
Magistru.
sir,
Hongkong, 17th. May,
430
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter No. 1630/10 dated 30th. April, 1910, forwarding
the decision of the Executive Council of this Government on the
subject of reforming the Public Houses in this Colony together
with the Law Officers' opinion on the matter.
2.
The letter with its onclosures was consider-
-ed by the Licensing Board at a meeting held on May 11th. when
the following resolutions were unanimously adopted by the Board:
(1). That without recognizing the right of any
licensee to the renewal of his licence in the
interval, notice should be given to each licensec
that the licence for his premises will not be
renewed after November 30th., 1915.
(2). That in the meantime steps be taken to ascertain
the marketable value of the business of each
licenace with a view to the possible acquisitior
of any of the licensed promises by a Public
House Trust.
3.
It will be noted that the Board has modi
the decision contained in the resolution forwarded in my le
dated 17th. March, 1910, and in lieu of different lengths wi time being allowed has decided that the fairest way of dealių. with the question of compensation is to give five years' notice:
to all the licensees.
4.
follows:-
The reasons for this modification are as
(A.) Although the amounts paid for the goodwil)
vary yet the length of time which should be allowed to the purchasers to recoup their
is practically the sane in all cases.