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Another difficulty as regards the Passenger or Provision Junks which your Petitioners respectfully submit for Your Excellency's consideration, is, the length of time (18 hours) fixed for giving notice of the intended departure of any Junk before she is permitted to leave. The working of this clause as regards this class of vessels would become wholly impracticable, as a large number of them leave the Colony within a very few hours after their arrival, and, in some instances, (as will be seen by the List above submitted) immediately after they have landed their Passengers and Freight.
The large amount of Security required before a License is granted will prevent many, if not all, of the Provision Junks from obtaining Licenses, even should the fees, other than the License fee, be remitted, and they should be desirous of applying for Licenses--the sum required being twice the value of Junks of the very best description. The present Security for vessels of the largest size being only 200 Dollars, whereas by the new Ordinance 1,500 Dollars is required for all vessels.
In the cases however of Licensed Trading or Cargo Junks, or unlicensed Junks of any description, the "Anchorage Pass," "Day Clearance," and "Special Permit" fees might with propriety be exacted, as vessels of the first description from the nature of their business, could only come to the Colony for a very limited number of times during the year, and in the case of the unlicensed vessels, the fees could with more propriety be demanded without regard to the frequency of their visits to the Colony for the purposes of trade, since they derive a certain benefit from such privilege.
Your Petitioners have not said anything as regards the payment by Fishing Boats of any of the fees other than the License fee; because although they cannot discover any clause in the Ordinance relieving them from such payment, your Petitioners believe it never could have been the intention of the Government that they should be called upon to pay more than the License fee; if, however, it is intended by the Ordinance that Fishing Boats should be made to pay "Anchorage Pass," "Day Clearance," and "Special Permit" fees your Petitioners fear that the immediate result will be that they will all leave the Colony for the neighbouring Fishing Boat Ports of which there are many.
But the last objection which your Petitioners have to make to this Ordinance, they respectfully submit, is one which if persisted in will prove of serious injury to the trade of the Colony, inasmuch as it will work great hardship to the Shippers of Cargo by Chinese Junks not their own property, and upon the Owners of such Junks, they not being the Masters or Persons in charge.
By Section XVII the Master of any Junk (whether Owner or paid servant) failing to comply with the Provisions of Sections VIII, IX, and X, subjects himself to certain heavy penalties, and by Sections XIX and XX, the Master of a Junk infringing any of the conditions therein contained, not only subjects himself to the heavier penalties therein laid down; but also the forfeiture of the Junk and also the cargo which may have been entrusted to his care, the innocent Owner of such cargo being thus punished for the misconduct or neglect of a Person, who may possibly be even unknown to him!
In a case where the Master of a Junk is only a paid servant, and the Owner of such Junk being resident in China, your Petitioners look upon the confiscation of such a Junk under Sections XVIII, XIX, and XX, in consequence of the act of such Master as a great hardship on the Owner, as, it is, in fact, a punishment of an innocent man equally with one guilty of a breach of the Ordinance;-even still more strongly do Petitioners consider it a hardship to confiscate the cargo which may belong to a man who has no other connection with either the Master or the Junk, except to pay them freight for the safe carriage of his goods.
Your Petitioners feel quite satisfied that with Your Excellency's great sense of justice, the above facts although but very imperfectly brought to Your Excellency's notice will suffice to convince Your Excellency that some modification is required, in order to render the working of this Ordinance unoppressive to the honest and innocent Trader.
The next Ordinance to which Your Petitioners would respectfully desire to draw Your Excellency's attention is Number 7 of 1866, "The Victoria Registration Ordinance 1866," which, though well adapted to insure the health, comfort and security of the Colonists, is, in some respects, open to objections; and your Petitioners therefore entreat that Your Excellency will permit them to explain their views on the subject.
In the first place Your Petitioners gather from the Ordinance that the term "Householder" shall in the first instance be the Tenant of the whole of any building, and, as such he is required under clause 3 of Section VI and under Section VIII to report the name and occupation of any person renting any portion of such house, and also any change in such tenancy.
In the cases of houses carrying on a large business this requirement might at all times be practicable to comply with; but, in the cases of houses where a small business is carried on (and these form the large majority of Tenements in the Colony,) it must often be a matter of extreme difficulty to comply with this part of the Ordinance.
Your Excellency may not be aware that a great number of the houses in which tradesmen and others carry on their business in the lower floor is generally let to a person who keeps a shop,--whilst the first and second floors are let to various persons in rooms of which there may be as many as 10 on each floor, and, as the stay of such persons is at all times most uncertain, and there are continual changes of occupants of these compartments much of the time of such "Householder," (who can but ill afford to leave his small business,) as also of the officers of the Registrar General's Department will be taken up in recording these changes.
If the difficulty is great with the "Householder" living in the house, who is himself a Tenant, that difficulty is greatly increased in the case of the "Householder" who may happen to be Landlord, and, who having let the whole of the compartments to different persons, only visits the house at the end of each month to collect his rents. He then finds that during the month some one or more of such occupants have left the house without either giving notice or paying rent, and that probably some other person, by arrangement, with the outgoing tenant, but without the Landlord's knowledge, has taken possession of the vacated compartment. These are things of daily occurrence in houses occupied by the poorer classes, who form the large portion of the fluctuating population of the Colony; and Your Petitioners foresee great loss of time to the poorer shopkeeper "Householder" in making reports, and great hardship by the frequent infliction of Fines both upon him as well as upon the Landlord "Householder" for breaches of this part of the Ordinance, which will require their constant and utmost vigilance to avert.
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Another difficulty as regards the Passenger or Provision Junks which your Petitioners respectfully submit for Your Excellency's consideration, is, the length of time (18 hours) fixed for giving notice of the intended departure of any Junk before she is permitted to leave. The working of this clause as regards this class of vessels would become wholly impracti- cable, as a large number of them leave the Colony within a very few hours after their arrival, and, in some instances, (as will be seen by the List above submitted) immediately after they have landed their Passengers and Freight.
The large amount of Security required before a License is granted will prevent many, if not all, of the Provision Junks from obtaining Licenses, even should the fees, other than the License fee, be remitted, and they should be desirous of applying for Licenses--the sum required being twice the value of Junks of the very best description. The present Security for vessels of the largest size being only 200 Dollars, whereas by the new Ordinance 1,500 Dollars is required for all vessels.
In the cases however of Licensed Trading or Cargo Junks, or unlicensed Junks of any description, the "Anchorage Pass," "Day Clearance," and "Special Permit" fees might with propriety be exacted, as vessels of the first description from the nature of their business, could only come to the Colony for a very limited number of times during the year, and in the case of the unlicensed vessels, the fees could with more propriety be demanded without regard to the frequency of their visits to the Colony for the purposes of trade, since they derive a certain benefit from such privilege.
Your Petitioners have not said anything as regards the payment by Fishing Boats of any of the fees other than the License fee; because although they cannot discover any clause in the Ordinance relieving them from such payment, your Petitioners believe it never could have been the intention of the Government that they should be called upon to pay more than the License fee; if, however, it is intended by the Ordinance that Fishing Boats should be made to pay "Anchorage Pass," "Day Clearance," and "Special Permit" fees your Petitioners fear that the immediate result will be that they will all leave the Colony for the neighbouring Fishing Boat Ports of which there are many.
But the last objection which your Petitioners have to make to this Ordinance, they respectfully submit, is one which if persisted in will prove of serious injury to the trade of the Colony, inasmuch as it will work great hardship to the Shippers of Cargo by Chinese Junks not their own property, and upon the Owners of such Junks, they not being the Masters or Persons in charge.
By Section XVII the Master of any Junk (whether Owner or paid servant) failing to comply with the Provisions of Sections VIII, IX, and X, subjects himself to certain heavy penalties, and by Sections XIX and XX, the Master of a Junk infringing any of the conditions therein contained, not only subjects himself to the heavier penalties therein laid down; but also the forfeiture of the Junk and also the cargo which may have been entrusted to his care, the innocent Owner of such cargo being thus punished for the misconduct or neglect of a Person, who may possibly be even unknown to him!
In a case where the Master of a Junk is only a paid servant, and the Owner of such Junk being resident in China, your Petitioners look upon the confiscation of such a Junk under Sections XVIII, XIX, and XX, in
5
consequence of the act of such Master as a great hardship on the Owner, as, it is, in fact, a punishment of an innocent man equally with one guilty of a breach of the Ordinance;-even still more strongly do Petitioners
your consider it a hardship to confiscate the cargo which may belong to a man who has no other connection with either the Master or the Junk, except
to pay them freight for the safe carriage of his goods.
Your Petitioners feel quite satisfied that with Your Excellency's great sense of justice, the above facts although but very imperfectly brought to Your Excellency's notice will suffice to convince Your Excellency that some modification is required, in order to render the working of this Ordinance unoppressive to the honest and innocent Trader.
The next Ordinance to which Your Petitioners would respectfully desire to draw Your Excellency's attention is Number 7 of 1866, "The Victoria Registration Ordinance 1866," which, though well adapted to insure the health, comfort and security of the Colonists, is, in some respects, open to objections; and your Petitioners therefore entreat that Your Excellency will permit them to explain their views on the subject.
In the first place Your Petitioners gather from the Ordinance that the term "Householder" shall in the first instance be the Tenant of the whole of any building, and, as such he is required under clanse 3 of Section VI and under Section VIII to report the name and occupation of any person renting any portion of such house, and also any change in such tenancy.
In the cases of houses carrying on a large business this requirement might at all times be practicable to comply with; but, in the cases of houses where a small business is carried on (and these form the large majority of Tenements in the Colony,) it must often be a matter of extreme difficulty to comply with this part of the Ordinance.
Your Excellency may not be aware that a great number of the houses in which tradesmen and others carry on their business in the lower floor is generally let to a person who keeps a shop,--whilst the first and second floors are let to various persons in rooms of which there may be as many as 10 on each floor, and, as the stay of such persons is at all times most uncertain, and there are continual changes of occupants of these compartments much of the time of such "Householder," (who can but ill afford to leave his small business,) as also of the officers of the Registrar General's Department will be taken up in recording these changes.
If the difficulty is great with the "Householder" living in the house, who is himself a Tenant, that difficulty is greatly increased in the case of the "Householder" who may happen to be Landlord, and, who having let the whole of the compartments to different persons, only visits the house at the end of each month to collect his rents. He then finds that during the month some one or more of such occupants have left the house with- out either giving notice or paying rent, and that probably some other person, by arrangement, with the outgoing tenant, but without the Landlord's knowledge, has taken possession of the vacated compartment. These are things of daily occurrance in houses occupied by the poorer classes, who form the large portion of the fluctuating population of the Colony; and Your Petitioners foresee great loss of time to the poorer shopkeeper "Householder" in making reports, and great hardship by the frequent infliction of Fines both upon him as well as upon the Landlord "Householder" for breaches of this part of the Ordinance, which will require their constant and utmost vigilance to avert.
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