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question himself, although the Government was a party to the dispute, and suggesting that Iould petition the Secretary of State like any other civil servant who had a grievance against the Government. The amount was a considerable one and one which I could 111 afford to lose: the effect of the decision extended into the future, for there was always the probability that if Mr. Ho Tung liked the house, and derived benefit from the change, he would be willing to take it again on similar occasions: I thought I was entitled to some consi- deration, and that even putting it as low as this that there was a point of law involved on which the Attorney General differed from the Chief Justice-the matter might be settled in some amicable way. But His Excellency thought otherwise.
20. After some insistence on my part His Excellency at last consented to discuss the matter with me the Attorney General being present.
From this discussion several things were apparent.
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that some of the members of the Executive Council took
the view that no Chineman should be allowed to occupy the Eyrie if it could be prevented as stated in His Excel- lency's letter af kfimid lõ tūpasa-12 1
that others were of opinion that the exemption should not
be granted to Mr. Ho Tung on account of his family rela- tions: the Attorney General seemed to insist that the true reason, or at least the most important reason, why the exemp- tion had been refused was that he was a ́re Chinaman in his
habits, had 4 wives, many children, and lived in Chinese fashion, and that it was impossible that such a family could be allowed to occupy a house so close to Mountain Lodge. I pointed out that my request had been limited to Mr. and Mrs. Ho Tung, by which I meant Mrs. Ho Tung who was known as such throughout the Colony. The Attorney General Suggested that there was no guarantee that the Chinese ladies would not live there. But His Excellency doubted whether the request was
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