CO129-189 - Governor Hennessy - 1880 [7-9] — Page 392

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The ACTING COLONIAL TREASURER.- -Your Excellency, I entirely concur in the remarks of the

Under such circumstances I declined to give an opinion until I was able to bave the whole case before e, an opportunity which I expected would most probably occur at this Meeting of Council. I can now as- sure Your Excellency, as a member of this Council, that after the statement which Your Excellency has just made, and after listening to the reading of the documents which have been laid before the Council, and which I understand were in the hands of the City Hall Commitee, I am of opinion that no sensible man

Colony when the grant of the ground on which the City Hall stands was first made by Sir RICHARD MACDONNELL for the purposes of a Public Hall, and although I was not then in a position to take an active part in the arrangements for the erection of the Building, I well remember the great stress which the Governor laid on the public nature of the grant.

I think the Committee are rauch to be blamed for not accepting the very reasonable compromise offered by the Secretary of State and coincided in by Your Excellency, namely, to throw the Library and Museum open to all nationalities, as an experiment, for a space of six months.

The reason the Committee have offered for not accepting that suggestion is a most absurd one, and cannot for one moment be sustained, namely, that they fear that the indiscriminate opening of the Library and Museum to all classes will probably give rise to a collision between the lower classes of Chinese and the lower classes of Europeans. My experience of the lower class of Chinese is that they are better behaved as sight-seers than the lower class of almost any other nation, and the lower class of Europeans who frequent this Colony are not to be complained of in that respect save when they are, as we sometimes unfortunately see them, under the influence of drink.

that have been quored, whether they establish a precise contract or no, I think the Council will agree with me there is a question of good faith, and that whatever may be the legal interpretation to honourable the Attorney General, who has expressed himself in a most clear and moderate manner. put upon the negotiations between the Government and the responsible persons acting on behalf of have myself taken a great interest in the City Hall, and, whenever I have been so requested, have been the City Hall at the time the grant was made, there was an understanding at least that the principle glad to assist the purposes of the Institution with a small donation. Consequently I have felt some- of having the City Hall free, open, and without distinction to all Her Majesty's subjects in this Colony, what interested in the controversy which has taken place between the Government and the gentlemen was accepted. I say the question is one primarily of good faith. Farther, it is a question of principle who represent the Committee, but I had not been able to get much insight into the points of disagree- apart from good faith, a question it may be called of policy, that of admitting Chinese subjects of lerment until I read the pamphlet which has been spoken of to-day, and with a copy of which I was When I had read through that pamphlet Majesty to equal rights in this part of Her Majesty's dominions with those of Her European subjects. dombtless favoured in consequence of my occasional donation. Then there is a third question, the question of expediency. Now, I observe that in this report some I was asked by a friend what I considered the rights of the case. I naturally inquired if that par- account is given of a meeting which was held by the Committee of the City Hall, in which thep phiet contained all the documents by the light of which the Committee were supposed to come to a associated with themselves, for the purpose of discussing the question here raised, the Chief Justice and decision. On the one hand, I was told these were all the documents submitted to the Committee, and Bishop Burden, and the description which is here given of the course of that meeting, having regard the other, that some had been omitted. to the three aspects of the question I have referred to, is somewhat curious. The meeting is said to have discussed the question in all its bearings. The public, apparently, have not seen all the bearings of the question yet, and I should certainly say it is a fair inference from the report of this meeting that the most important of the bearings of the question were not before the meeting; otherwise, the comse of the discussion to any mind was a most extraordinary one. Now here is the report. We have the Bishop introduced with this flourish,-"The Bishop, who has resided for many years amongst the

Chinese and has a thorough knowledge of their language." I don't see how that bears precisely-uld have come to any other decision than that at which Your Excellency has arrived. I was in the "customs and feeling"--that is more pertinent, "being one of those who supported the new regulations. "After deciding upon these new rules it was unanimously decided by those present at the meeting that "it was unnecessary to consider the second article of the basis of settlement." What was the second article? The second article was the article which proposed to consider these regulations on the ground of good faith. Therefore, it appears that the Committee considered this question, leaving out the con sideration whether they were keeping good faith with those who advanced the funds. Well, the public, if they were to be content with the materials furnished by this document, would be in much the same position as the Committee. The question of good faith would not be before them as it really arises, and upon the question of expediency they would have no materials for a judgement unless they like to take the opinion of Bishop BURDON. In that report the question of good faith, the question that arises out of the minutes of the Governor and the correspondence is left out altogether, and, as His Excellency has pointed out, the full merits of this question from the three-fold view-good faith as well as ex- pediency and principle-will now be before the Colony for the first time. Now, with regard to this as a question of expediency and principle, it appears to me that practically my honourable friend who has spoken on this subject has abandoned any ground the Committee might have had for defending these rules, because I think it stands upon his admission that these rules CO for very little. Whether he has abandoned such ground or not, it is a serious matter to put such a document as this report before the Colony in which the Governor is put forward as one who does not keep his word and breaks faith with those with whom he makes arrangements. When I look at this document I find it stated that Bishop BURDON, who knows the customs of the people, is put forward as in support of the conclusious arrived at, and, I apprehend, not on the question of principle but on the question of expediency, or at all events, as much the latter as the former. I think the Colony would be interested to know what materials, what surmises, what facts there were before the Committee which induced them to come to the decision that it was desirable to have such a rule as this to prevent a conflict between the lower strata of Chinese and Europeans. When those grounds bring them into collision with the Governor, and certainly with the clearly enunciated opinion of the Secretary of State, they are bound, I don't say according to law, but as men of common sense appealing to men of common sense, they are bound to put forward some substantial materials which warrant them in coming to their conclusion, and which render it necessary to insist on it, in spite of considerations which were put to them, as in the nature of good faith, and notwithstanding that it is represented to them that it brings them into conflict with the principle that all Her Majesty's subjects should be treated on an equal footing, and that it brings them clearly into conflict with the very modest proposal made by the Secretary of State, a proposal which says, if it be proved expedient let it go, but give it a trial for six months. Well, it must have been a strong necessity, of which we are entitled to ask some evidence, which would bring the Committee into conflict with all these considerations, and lead them to refuse, as they have done positively, to reopen the question at all, as suggested by the Secretary of State. It is patent, under these circumstances, they have put themselves in one respect in the wrong. For that letter some more respectful attention than they seem to have bestowed upon it would have been becoming in any body of citizens in the Colony. But be that as it may, I merely wish to add my few humble suggestions to those of my honourable friend Mr. RYRIE as to the course that appears to be clearly open to the Committee with regard to the position they should take up.

Unless they have some substantial reason for insisting on these rules because expediency requires it, I should suggest, on principle alone, and having regard to the suggestion of the Secretary of State, that they might re-open the question and deal with the subject again. I only wish to add with regard to the opinions have expressed about this matter, that it does appear to me that the principle that the Chinese and European subjects of the Queen should be treated without distinction is one which it would ill become this Government to abandon by associating itself, as it would by continuing the grant, with the only body administering public monies in the Colony which continues this distinction.

But if the Committee carry out their own regulations thoroughly no collision need occur, for in that case drunken and disorderly persous would not be allowed admission into the building, which is only intended for "decently dressed and properly behaved" persons.

Your Excellency, when the City Hall was first projected, the subscriptions towards its erection were limited to a comparatively few persons, but in course of time, when it was discovered that the building was no longer self-supporting and the Committee found themselves in want of funds for its maintenance, they sent round the hat and collected subscriptions from the general public.

Their appeal was generously responded to. Some became annual subscribers, while others con- tented themselves in making a donation. This money was raised from all classes of the community, and from all nationalities, and a good deal was subscribed by Chinese.

The building has, therefore, it may be said, passed out of the narrow limits of its original sub- scribers, to whom the Colony is very much indebted for its philanthropic inception, and is now and has been for some time supported by general subscription.

The City Hall is a more Public Institution at the present day than it ever was.

Now as to the allegation of the Committee that the Library and Museum are as free as Sir RICHARD MACDONNELL ever intended them to be, I can assure them that Chinese have made the complaint to me, when I have asked them if they have seen the latest novelty added to the Museum, that they have not been able to get in. I have added, "It is a free exhibition," to which has been made the reply, "It was not open for the admission of Chinese when I happened to be there." There are many Chi- nese who only get an occasional holiday, and if when they go to the City Hall they find it closed against them, they naturally consider it a hardship that they cannot obtain admission on the only opportunity which they may be able to obtain for the next six months. The same may be said of Europeans when they come on shore and find the place only open for Chinese. The reason so little complaint is heard of these restrictive and exclusive regulations was that the Chinese in the Colony, were unaware that this was a public Institution. I hold that in making regulations which at times esclude Europeans and at others exclude Chinese from the Library and Museum, the Committee of the City Hall have violated the terms on which they received the grant for those Institutions, not only on behalf of the Chinese but also on behalf of Europeans.