NOX
SECRET.
RECE
19 SEP 1939 0.0. REGY
58997/39
3-18
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG.
5th September, 1939.
Amic &
2
Sir,
I ha the honour to acknowledge the receipt
of your secret despatch of 10th July, 1939, regarding
the proposed amendment of the Vagrancy Ordinance, 1897,
designed to take the place of Emergency Regulation No.4
in the regulations published by Government Notification
No.775 of 7th October, 1938, by which the Police are
empowered to detain and send away from the Colony any
person who has no regular employment. I now enclose
را
for your consideration a copy of the proposed Bill,
which I regret was omitted from my previous despatch
secret (2) of 1st May, 1939.
53682/35.
2.
The powers conferred under the Emergency
Regulations are not limited to aliens. I consider
however that the powers conferred on magistrates under
the present Bill should be so limited. There is no
intention of altering the provisions of the existing
law in regard to the deportation of British subjects.
3.
The provisions of the present Bill will not
curtail the powers conferred by Section 3 of Ordinance
No.39 of 1935 on the Governor-in-Council, but will
save possible recourse to those powers in the class of
case with which the draft Bill deals. It has in fact
never been the practice to deal with the destitute aliens
under Section 3 of Ordinance No.39 of 1935, unless they
have been convicted of a specific offence and the
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
MALCOLM MACDONALD, M.P.,
&C.,
&C.,
&C.