CO129-128 - Public Offices & Others - 1867 — Page 714

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following quotation from the leading article upon gan. bling in the Daily Press of May 6, 1867.

"A meeting of the Legislative Council must be led very soon, and we believe that a Bill on this sub ject will be brought before it. What the nature and provisions of that Bill may be we do not know" MEETING OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

May 15, 1867.

The Gambling Ordinance.

"In reply to a further question from Mr. Whittall - the Governor said that there was no intention of in. troducing a new ordinance to deal with gambling. The government would avail itself of the existing law but he believed the police were engaged iu rather fruitless efforts. No doubt people were deterred from gambling in comfort, but no new measures of a re

He alluded to the pressive nature were intended. bribes, which were offered to the police, and this i duced Mr. Whittall to remark that the difficulty might be met by licensing gambling houses.

"The Governor said he had no idea of what the po licy of the Home Government might ultimately be, bat while laws existed, it was the duty of the police, and the executive to endeavour to carry them out Possibly in the end measures might be taken with a view of regulating gambling houses, instead of cou. pletely suppressing them as at present, but he thought that was all be had liberty to state."

(Extracted from "Daily Press" of 16th May, 1867)

On the 17th June, 1867, the Ordinance No. 9 of 1867, was passed. This Ordinance is almost verhale

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identical with that called No. 8 of 1866. The clause above printed respecting gambling is repeated verba-

. On that day the Council was occupied by a long debate upon Coolie Emigration. At the close of the sitting the Governor made the following remarks:

"In regard to the subject of gambling the Gover- nor said that some had been under the impression that lotteries were not included. He would also here say that on this subject he had some correspondence, which, although of a private nature, was nevertheless open to any member of the Council, and although in England much energy was used in putting down gambling by law, it was from the nature of the cir cumstances not so easily to be done here, and he thought it probable that it would soon be found ex- pedient in this colony to regulate what could not be extinguished."

(See "Daily Press” June 18, 1867.)

In spite of this speech of His Excellency, the pro- ject did not succeed in attracting public attention, un- ill the publication of a very remarkable leading ar- ticle in the Daily Press of July 10, 1867, which we reprint here in extenso, taking the liberty to italicize certain sentences and to append a few notes.

OUR readers will remember certain remarks of a somewhat guard...... ed, not to say mysterious, nature, made by the GOVERNOR at a recou meeting of the Legislative Council, in connexion with a clause in the Police and Cleanliness Ordinance relative to gambling. It was implied then that the views of the Governor leaned towards a policy of toleration in regard to the grent sin of the Chinese, in cousidoration of the utter hopelessness of eradicating it by any partial measures which we might attempt in this little colony, It also appeared that something was going on in connexion with the subject leading to the possibility of subsequent legislation. But all at the time was mysterious. We are glad to be able now to cheme a little light on what kas taken place, and on the measures