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HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
on
compradores. This has been stopped with excellent results. I can hardly credit the hotels taking the place of those comi- pradores, and if they do, that is their affair and they will suffer for it. During your régime. Sir, I maintain that you
that have done the maximum
any Governor could do in the interests of You have pushed the sobriety. improvement of the roads; you have taken a deep interest in and greatly facilitated the making of our golf course at Fanling; in fact you have done everything to widen the scope of healthy outdoor exercise and do away
with that cooped up feeling, which in the past must have been a great incentive to intemperance. Don't belittle it now, Sir, with this poor impotent little
Bill.
II.E. THE GOVERNOR-The object of the Bill is not to stop drinking. Colonial Secretary never said word
about that,
a
broadly and generally, it is obviously undesirable to multiply classes of offence for which men can be hauled up before a Police Magistrate and fined, and it is particularly undesirable in regard to a matter like this, which affects strangers coming within our gates who, whatever may be thought of residents of this Colony, cannot be expected reasonably to be acquainted with the laws of this Colony. And yet, Sir, what do we find? We find that under Clause 5 of this Bill it is positively and solemnly proposed not that every buyer who does anything wrong, or anything known to be wrong, should be punished, but that a buyer shall be punished because a seller does some thing wrong.
Clause 5 reads, · Every
person to whom any liquor is supplied in contravention of this Ordinance shall also be guilty of an offence against this Ordin
"" The ance. If a seller supplies liquor con
trary to the provisions of this Ordinance the fault of the seller is, by an extra- ordinary tour de force, transferred to the shoulders of the possibly innocent buyer coming into the Colony in ignorance of It is a peculiar law, its peculiar law. for it is proposed by Clause 5 of the Bill that a stranger within our gates, assuming that the hotel boy mistakes him and wo know that very often there are cases of two people being like one another for a resident of the hotel and does not ask seller liable but the buyer also is liable If the seller commits to get run in."
Hos. Mr. S. H. DODWELL 1 grant you it is a measure which is in force at
I do Home, but you know, Sir, as well as the reasons for it at Home, and that they do not exist in this Colony.
Rub
HON. MR. H. E. POLLOCK-1 opposed to this Bill, and with reference to the reasons for the Bill, Sir, I certainly understood the Colonial Secretary to make
some remarks on the question of pro- for cash--then, Sir, not only is the
reasons
miscuous drinking. I do not see how his words could be interpreted in any other sense than that the Bill would tend to lessen drinking. But, now, Sir, I under- stand he wishes to disclaim that point. If that is so, we do not wish him to hold to anything which he wishes to disclaim. With regard to the question of the reasons of this Bill, I would point out that in the statement of "Objects and Reasons,' where we should naturally look for those reasons, the
are conspicuously absent. I would also point out, Sir, that that is a very grave and scrious omission. Unofficial members ought not to be obliged to wait for the second reading of the Bill before the Government discloses its reasons for the measure. It is not much good, Sir, publishing the Bill for some time previously in the Gazette merely stating the objects aimed at--because any com- petent lawyer can more or less see the objects aimed at and leaving out all Of mention of the reasons aimed at course, for every Bill that exists it is desirable there should be good and sufficient reasons. I think every member of this Council will admit that, speaking
Well. Sir,
an offence then the buyer has to be run in and will also be guilty of an offence. In other words, if A commits a crime then B shall also be deemed to have com- mitted the same crime. understand that the Colonial Secretary does not now wish to raise any point con- cerned with an attempt to restrict the sale of liquors, and, therefore, it all boils down to that wonderful and very nice brown bag which he produced just now full, apparently, of rather musty-looking chits from which it would appear that one hotel has suffered considerable loss. The Colonial Secretary now bases his plea ou the question of protecting the hotel-keeper. Well, Sir. I think that one can safely assume that that particular hotel is not one of the two leading hotels in the City of Victoria, for the reason that I am able to read to the Council, and certainly shall do so, letters of protest from the two largest hotels on the City the Hong kong Hotel and the King Edward Hotel. These hotels certainly do not view this Bill as a boon; they regard it from a quite do not pretend contrary point of view.
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HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
or
to understand hotel-keeping myself, but presume that these letters, which are written, no doubt, after conference with the managers of the hotels, represent correctly the views of these managers, and I presume that these hotel managers, from being in charge of these two big hotels. may be taken as reasonably competent judges of how hotel business should be carried on and what is convenient inconvenient in carrying on such business. Before reading the letters I should make a remark in answer to what the Colonial Secretary said about the directors of hotels. I have spoken to
two of the directors of the Hongkong Hotel, and if they felt in their hearts as the Colonial Secretary supposed all I can say is that what they said to me, and the clear and definite views they gave me personally, are absolutely at variance with their sup- posed views as pictured by the lively imagination of the Colonial Secretary. They were convinced in their hearts, if we must repeat the words of the Colonial Secretary, that this Bill is not a good measure, otherwise I cannot suppose these directors would have spoken to me on the subject, as they would have been simply wasting their time.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY They spoke to me in exactly the same way.
HON. MR. POLLOCK Well
Sir,
now.
with regard to the Hongkong Hotel, I will read their letter, or rather the letter which was written on their behalf by Messrs. Deacon, Looker, Deacon
Harston, their solicitors, on the 27th of last month, with reference to this Bill. I think it is necessary to read the letter · because, with all due deference, I think the Colonial Secretary has given us rather a travesty of their views. The letter is as follows:
Hongkong, 27th September, 1917. SIR,We have the honour to address you in regard to the above Bill on behalf of our clients, the Hongkong Hotel Co., Ltd.
2. Our clients are the holders of a Publican's Licence granted by the Hong- kong Government and have continuously held such licence or its equivalent for the period of 50 years.
The fee payable in respect of such licence at the present time is $3,500 per
annum.
3. During the period of 50 years referred to in the preceding paragraph that portion of our clients' business
100
the
which relates to the supply of intoxicat ing liquor has been very largely carried on by means of what is known as chit system "-whereunder
the pur- chaser is supplied with the liquor desired by him in exchange for an order in writing signed by him.
4. Our clients' experience under the above system-save in a comparatively infinitesimal number of instances-has been such as to enable them to say that the system has worked well and has been a great convenience both to them- selves and their customers.
5. The intoxicating liquor supplied by our clients to such of their customers as, if the above Bill be passed, will fall within the purview of its restrictive clauses, is served in the following por tions of their premises, viz. :
(a.) The Public Bar. (.) The Private Bar. (e.) The Smoking-room Bar. (d) The Kiosk Lounge. (.) The Large Lounge.
6.-Our clients have quite recently removed the Public Bar into a smaller room, thus reducing the area thereof by approximately 75 per cent. In addi tion, our clients have also quite recently similarly reduced the arca of the Smoking-room Bar.
7. In our clients' opinion the Ordin- ance now proposed will not only directly inflict needless pecuniary loss upon them in regard to their "takings," but will also be the cause of their suffering
C
unnecessary
*
inconvenience and hard- ship, for the reasons (inter alia) that it will be requisite for our clients to pro- vide additional members to their staff in order to "shroff
and *check the money which will be received in lieu of chits as heretofore, and to ensur that no intoxicating liquor is supplied to any customer who is not “ residing at the Hotel "-in which respect must be remembered that the Hotel is patronised not only by permanent residents but also by transient residents and casual visitors.
It
8. In addition to the inconvenience and hardship entailed upon our clients as above, it is also the fact that the pro- visions of the Bill are such as to largely add to the possibility of our clients incurring jeopardy in respect of their hereinbefore-mentioned licence.
9. Our clients respectfully submit that no sufficient reason exists to war- rant the passing of the proposed Ordin- ance, and in this relation our clients would observe that this view is sup>- ported by the fact that under the