;
in the Legislative Council on the gond instant upon the last cecasion of my presi
over that
ding
that ass
t assembly. This speech contains brief statement of the ~ principal events that have
a
ten
occurred during my months' tenure of office.
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Most Obedient Humble Servant,
MBlack
Major General, Administering the Go-
the
vernment
God,
Enclosure
The Daily Press.
HONGKONG, November 23rd 1898.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.
Yesterday a meeting of the Hongkong Legislative Council was held in the Council Chamber at the Government Offices, there being present:---
His EXCELLENCY the ACTING GOVERNOR, Major-General BLACK, C. B. (Officer Command- ing the Troops).
Hon. T. SERCOMBE SMITH (Acting Colonial Secretary.)
Hon. R. MURRAY RUMSEY (Harbour Master). Hon. F. H. MAY, C.M.G. (Captain Super- intendent of Police.)
Hou. A. M. THOMSON (Acting Colonial Trea- surer.)
Hon. R. D. ORMSBY (Director of Public Works.)
Hon. C. P. CHATER, C.M.G.
Hon. Dr. Ho Kar.
Hou. E. R. BELITIOS.
Hon. J. J. BELL-IRVING.
Hon. WE A. YUK.
Mr. J. G. T. BUCKLE (Clerk of Councils.)
This being the Acting Governor's last ap- pearance at the Council meeting a number of ladies and gentlemen belonging to the outside public attended.
THE ACTING-GOVERNOR'S FAREWELL. His Excellency MAJOR GENERAL BLACK, before the commencement of the ordinary busi- ness, said :--All business firms whether large or small take stock once a year, and call a mo- momentary halt to see how they stand before girding up their loins for the work of the com- fug year. Governments, which are but large business firms working for the public weal, in the same way review each year their position, and not only put forward their balance sheet but indicate with modest satisfaction schemes which have run smoothly and well, and gloss over those which, however well laid though thay may have beime gone agley. I take, then, no unusual course in asking you to listen while I briefly touch upon some of the events which have made the ten months I have had the hon. ear to hold the reins more eventful than many like periods of your past history. Although less severe than in 1894, the Plague has this year claimed 1,163 victims out of 1,320 stricken. Wisely abandoning the too stringent application of Western methods the Government erected suitable hospital buildings at Kennedytown, placed them in charge of the Tungwa Hospital, and induced the Chinese to carry their sick to that benevolent institution. While deeply de- ploring the loss by this droad visitation, I am glad to congratulate the medical profession, and the other Government officials whose duty connected them with the suppression of the plague, for the strenuous and unselfish efforts with which they carried out their humane duties. Three of the sisters caught the infection at the post of duty, of whom two died, giving up their lives as nobly as men who die on the field amid the din and excitement of battle. (Applause.) The outbreak of war between Spain and America--- two countries in friendly relations with Eng. land-threw on this Government the onerous task of maintaining the laws of neutrality. A little island stored with good, coal, and all the munitions of war in great abundance lying off a coast indented with harbours, is naturally a couveniekspot where belligerents might re- plenish their stores of coal and food and it is a source of satisfaction to this Government that thanks to the energy and tact with which the officials carried out their duties, the laws of Dentrality were strictly enforced, and yet the end of the war found us on as friendly terms with eithor belligerent as at the beginning. The changes that this war may bring may deeply affect this colony but they still lie in the future and are not yet within our keu. A social incident not without its bearing on a great national movement was the arrival in Hongkong of a
German
: £7
To
20131
RECP
& 26004
German Prince charged for the first time withd high command in Eastern waters. The Prince of Prussia would have found a welcome for his own sake. Courteous, kind, and capable, yet every inch a Prince, he was welcomed by the whole commanity of Hongkong, and the English in. habitants did not forget in their welcome that he and his wife are grand-children of our be- loved Queen. (Applause.) Hongkong has long felt the anomaly of its position, with the north- ern side of its magnificent harbour actually belonging to another power, its forts at the eastern entrance commanded at short rifle range by the Devil's Peak, and the end of its mine fields almost touching the Chiueso soil. the Bay of Kowloon within the precincts of its harbour but outside its jurisdiction. In June last a Convention was signed by which our boundary line is pushed some 13 miles to the north, thus sweeping away these anomalies giving Hongkong room to expand, and more than all presenting the passing into other hands of the roads of Lantau, and the spacious bar- bour of Mirs Bay. (Applause.) Much interest is naturally felt in Hongkong as to the position of the stations of the Maritime Customs. It seems to me only just and necessary that these should recede with the new boundary-(sp- plause)-for it would be an abdication of sover- eignty if a foreign power were allowed to exercise control withia British waters. At the same time I recognise that it is right that we should aid the friendly Government of China in her task of protecting her revenue, made so difficult by the indented nature of the coast line, and to this end I have suggested that opium should be stored in Governments Godowns, and only issued on Government permit. In legislation much useful but unob- trusive work has been done. I way instance—- The Trade Marks Ordinance. The Liquor Licences Ordinance, The Bank Note Ordinance. The increased issue of Bank notes has, from causes well known to you all, been long deman- ded and the enlarged circulation is proving a great boon. The Queen's Recreation Ground Ördinance in the last I have taken a great interest, and I have some right to look upon it as a bantling of my own. The recurrence of j the plague has forced ou every thinking man the need of letting light and air into the blocks ! of Chinese houses, which, full of human beings in many cases, literally staud back to back in the City of Victoria, containing rooms into which the sun never enters, and where the fetid air has no motion. Doctors and physic, good though they be by themselves. powerless to cure, while sun and air are a sure preventive; and great as the task may be of bringing these natural agents into this recking mass of humanity their admission must be secured by law. A bill is now before you which I admit does not go far enough, but it will at least be the beginning of a great reform. Many complaints have been made as to the shortcomings of the Post Office; a great deal of the confusion comes from retrenchment having been carried too far, and from the business having outgrown the building. I have sub- mitted recommendations to the Secretary of State which will. I trust, produce great im- provement in the departmout, in whose well- being every individual is concerned. Nearly allied to the Queen's Recreation Ground is the roservation of the rocky bluff on which stands the boulders called Sung Wang Toi or the "Watch 'Towars of the Sung" which, as far as I can gather, is the only historical monument which links modern history with the old-world time. Take its reservation morte certain. I applied to the Secretary of State for leave to bring in a bill to this and, and his permission is now on the sea. I regret that I will not have the pleasure of giving assent to it. A survey has been made of the Jubilee Road round the
are
169
mare
Island. has been traced with gradients, easy
and offers in the section between Aberdeen and Deep Water Bay, an important sanitary reform, for part of the scheme is to fill up and turf over the festering inlet to which the leading medical men of the colony point as the source of the malaria which has so long marred the health of Aberdeen and the neighbourhood of Magazine Gap. I have nothing but the good of the community at heart, and I emphatically I state that if you believe medical testimony, it
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