CO129-276 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1897 [6-8] — Page 32

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All AI Reviewed

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19.

Indeed if the legal advisers of the Opium Farmers were not of the same opinion it seems strange that they should not have sued the Government for breach of contract instead of referring the matter to the Secretary of State.

20. The Opium Farmers have standing solicitors and counsel and are usually ready enough to fight any case in Court when they conceive it to their advantage to do so.

21. I understand that after the expiry of the present grant compliance with all necessary sanitary requirements will be ensured by the conditions under which Divan Licences will be granted by the Colonial Secretary, but see no reason why in the meantime these Divans are to be allowed to indulge in overcrowding dangerous alike to the persons who frequent them and to the health of the community.

22. If the present Divans cannot suitably accommodate all their customers there is nothing to prevent new ones being opened although of course this may involve additional expense.

23. With regard to the Petition to the Legislative Council this was read by Mr. Whitehead and although Counsel was not heard the Petition itself fully set forth the case of the Petitioners.

24. As regards the prayer of the Petition to the Secretary of State, this is founded upon what, I trust, I have shown is the baseless assumption that Bye Law No. 3 is at once illegal having regard to the grant, and unfair in its requirements.

25. In conclusion I may add that the report of my speech in the Legislative Council set forth in the Daily Press of May 4th.

19.

was kept as is, assuming it's a paragraph or section numbering. However, proper formatting might require further context. I've corrected "hegal" to "legal", "bave" to "have", "conceivett" to "conceive", "tut" to "but", and "aseless" to "baseless". I've also made minor adjustments for spacing and punctuation. The original text's structure and content have been preserved as much as possible, with the application of Markdown not being directly applicable due to the output format requirement being HTML.

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31 19. Indeed if the legal advisers of the Opium Farmers were not of the same opinion it seems strange that they should not have sued the Government for breach of contract instead of referring the matter to the Secretary of State. 20. The Opium Farmers have standing solicitors and counsel and are usually ready enough to fight any case in Court when they conceive it to their advantage to do so. 21. I understand that after the expiry of the present grant compliance with all necessary sanitary requirements will be ensured by the conditions under which Divan Licences will be granted by the Colonial Secretary, but see no reason why in the meantime these Divans are to be allowed to indulge in overcrowding dangerous alike to the persons who frequent them and to the health of the community. 22. If the present Divans cannot suitably accommodate all their customers there is nothing to prevent new ones being opened although of course this may involve additional expense. 23. With regard to the Petition to the Legislative Council this was read by Mr. Whitehead and although Counsel was not heard the Petition itself fully set forth the case of the Petitioners. 24. As regards the prayer of the Petition to the Secretary of State, this is founded upon what, I trust, I have shown is the baseless assumption that Bye Law No. 3 is at once illegal having regard to the grant, and unfair in its requirements. 25. In conclusion I may add that the report of my speech in the Legislative Council set forth in the Daily Press of May 4th. 19. was kept as is, assuming it's a paragraph or section numbering. However, proper formatting might require further context. I've corrected "hegal" to "legal", "bave" to "have", "conceivett" to "conceive", "tut" to "but", and "aseless" to "baseless". I've also made minor adjustments for spacing and punctuation. The original text's structure and content have been preserved as much as possible, with the application of Markdown not being directly applicable due to the output format requirement being HTML.
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31 19. Indeed if the hegal advisers of the Opium Farners were not of the same opinion it seems strange that they should not bave aued the Government for breach of contract instead of referring the matter to the Secretary of State. 20. The Opium Farmers have standing solicitors and counsel and are usually, ready enough to fight any case in Court when they .conceivett to their advantage to do so. ei vert 21. I understand that after the expiry of the present grant compliance with all necessary sanitary requirements will be ensured by the conditions under which Divan Licences will be granted by the Colonial Secretary, tut see no reason why in the meantime, these Divans are to be allowed to indulge in overcrowding danger- -ous alike to the persons who frequent them and to the health of the community. 22. If the present Divans cannot.suitably, accommodate all their customers there is nothing to prevent new ones being opened although of course this may involve additional expense. 23. With regard to the Petition to the Legislative Council this was read by Mr. Whitehead and although Counsel was not heard the Petition itself fully set forth the case of the Petitioners. 24. As regards the prayer of the Petition to the Secretary of State, this is founded upon what, I trust, I have shown is the aseless assumption that Bye Law No. 3 is at once illegal. having regard to the grant, and unfair in its requirements. 25. In conclusion I may add that the report of my speech the Legislative Council set forth in the Daily Precs of May 4th.
2026-05-29 04:07:23 · Baseline
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31

19.

Indeed if the hegal advisers of the Opium Farners were

not of the same opinion it seems strange that they should not bave

aued the Government for breach of contract instead of referring the

matter to the Secretary of State.

20. The Opium Farmers have standing solicitors and counsel

and are usually, ready enough to fight any case in Court when they

.conceivett to their advantage to do so.

ei vert

21. I understand that after the expiry of the present grant

compliance with all necessary sanitary requirements will be ensured

by the conditions under which Divan Licences will be granted by

the Colonial Secretary, tut see no reason why in the meantime,

these Divans are to be allowed to indulge in overcrowding danger-

-ous alike to the persons who frequent them and to the health of

the community.

22.

If the present Divans cannot.suitably, accommodate all

their customers there is nothing to prevent new ones being opened

although of course this may involve additional expense.

23. With regard to the Petition to the Legislative Council

this was read by Mr. Whitehead and although Counsel was not heard

the Petition itself fully set forth the case of the Petitioners.

24. As regards the prayer of the Petition to the Secretary

of State, this is founded upon what, I trust, I have shown is the

aseless assumption that Bye Law No. 3 is at once illegal. having

regard to the grant, and unfair in its requirements.

25. In conclusion I may add that the report of my speech

the Legislative Council set forth in the Daily Precs of May 4th.

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