CO129-338 - Public Offices & Others - 1906 — Page 598

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point out that the Imperial Act of 1855 while providing

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for regulations does not prohibit the carriage of

coolies under contract to Foreign countries, nor aces

the Hong Kong consolidating ordinance of 1889 expressly

prohibit such carriage, although the Governor of

Hong Kong has apparently been advised that the law does,

at any rate by inference, prohibit him from issuing a

licence to a vessel carrying contract coolies to a

foreign country. Par. 3 of the Colonial Office Memo-

randum says that "it is by no means clear that this

"view is correct but the point is not of practical

"importance as the Governor is in any case for-

"bidden by long standing instructions from the

"Secretary of State to issue licences to such

"vessels. #

These instructions have no doubt been issued by

the Secretary of State in virtue of Section 11 of the

Hong Kong Ordinance of 1889, which provides that the grant-

ing of licences "shall be subject to such 'conditions'

"as may from time to time be prescribed under

"instruction

from His Majesty's Principal Secre-

"tary of State for the Colonies."

The question whether a 'condition'

Section includes a prohibition is discussed in the fol-

lowing note by Mr Ellis Cunliffe, the Solicitor to

Board of Trade :-

under this

the

"From a legal point of view the difficulties

seem to centre round S.11 of the Ordinance of 1889 as to whether a condition of the Secretary of Statc for the Colonies upon which a licence can be

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