5.
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(c) To prevent for the future the establishment of
temples as purely business speculations.
There has been an alarming growth of pseudo-religious
establishments in recent years.
Many of the keepers are
simply fortune tellers of an unrecognized and objectionable
kind. Some of these temples occupy a single floor for a
few months at a time until they have dealt with all the
dupes of the district, when they move elsewhere.
6.
There are some private temples, established originally
by private individuals or particular families, which are
managed honestly and unobjectionably, though of course the
profits go to the private owners. All temples which are
clearly of this class will be specifically exempted from the
financial control proposed to be set up by this Ordinance.
A list of temples so to be exempted is contained in the
Schedule to the Ordinance.
This Schedule may be added to
There are other temples,
by the Governor in Council.
originally established by sections of the community for the
benefit of the public, which are falling or which have fallen
under the control of private individuals. These individuals,
or their predecessors, have thus encroached on the rights of
the public and can have no claim as against the community to
usurp the revenues of these temples. Such temples are
under the control of the Ordinance.
7.
For the future it is felt that temples should not be
private property, conducted for the pecuniary benefit of
private individuals.
Accordingly, all future temples will
also fall under the control of the Ordinance.
8.
There is a peculiar class of places which fall within the definition of the term "Chinese temple" though they
scarcely come within the popular meaning of the word temple.
They are places inhabited by monks or nuns who perform two
One function is to attend at their clients'
functions.