101
foot
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
LL
caption "Objects and Reasons" appear- Governor for his consideration. ---We
the ing at
have of the proposed
the honour to be. Sir, your Ordinance, though the Object
obedient servants, clearly stated, no Reason whatever therefor is given.
"
15
10. Our clients would venture to remind the Government that both prior to and during the present War their assistance has on many occasions been solicited on behalf of charitable and benevolent institutions and under- takings, and that such assistance has almost invariably been rendered on Our or less gratuitous terms. clients mention this fact in order to emphasise the further fact that the objections to the proposed new Ordin- ance herein set forth do not emanate from a corporation whose sole intent is the making of money at all hazards,
more
il. Dealing with the contents of the proposed now Ordinance apart from the question of the principle involved in the consideration of the Ordinance itself, our clients would remark that the alleviation purporting to be afforded by the concluding words of Section 4 are under grave danger of nullification by the provisions of Section 6-which latter Section seems to our clients to be grossly unfair. in that it places the Magistrate before whom any "trans- action is questioned in the position of dispensing with evidence and acting upon his own mere impression.
12.--Our clients would respectfully call attention to the fact that the restric- tions in regard to the Liquor Trade now existing in Great Britain were the result of the absolute necessity for securing the due prosecution by the working classes of all the country's energies for carry- ing on the war, and particularly in regard to shipyards and munition factories a state of affairs which, in regard to the necessity above referred 10. has no parallel in this Colony.
(Sd.) DEACON, LOOKER, DEACON & HARSTON.
I think
There, Sir, with 50 years' experience they say the system has worked well. They do not seem to be oppressed with a bagful of chits or anything of that sort. Clause 10 of the letter quite sufficiently answers the contention put forward by the Colonial Secretary that apparently some of those people are very much afraid that their takings will be diminished. That letter was addressed to the Colonial Secretary. It was a letter, Sir, very fairly and very properly and courteously expressed, and one would have thought that it would have met with an equally courteous reply. The letter was sent on the 22nd of September and the reply to it is dated 10th October, that is, yesterday. The reply is as follows:-
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong.
10th October, 1917.
GENTLEMEN, With reference to your letter of the 27th September, 1917, 011 the subject of the proposed Bill' to amend the Liquors Consolidation Ordin- ance of 1911, I am directed to inform you that a full explanation of the Bill will be given in the Legislative Coun- cil on Thursday, the 11th October, aud that the Government is not prepared to withdraw the Bill.--I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
(Sd.) CLAUDE SEVERN
(Colonial Secretary), Messrs. Deacon, Looker, Deacon &
Harston, Hongkong.
In other words, Sir, the reasonable stain- ment pointing out that absolutely no justification on the face of things has been shown for this
W
13. Finally, our clients would remark that the lack of any sufficient reason for
nreasure in the the passing of the proposed Ordinance
Objects and Reasons is emphasised by the fact that the num
is met by the ber of fully licensed hotels and public curt statement just at the last moment, houses in this Colony is comparatively at the eleventh hour, "You will be told a very small one there being only 7
what you
will be told about the Bill." fully licensed hotels and public houses Apparently the only thing full about. in all while of these only 4 are situate the explanation promised is the brown within the limits of the City of Victoria. bag which we have seen and which appears viz.. the following:-The Hongkong to be full of chits. All I can say in Hotel The King Edward Hotel, The regard to that is that one manager of a Grand Hotel, The Astor House Hotel. hotel has been singularly improvident in 14. Our clients therefore submit that his transactions and this one man, appar- the proposed Bill should be withdrawn,ently, requires some protection. The big and we shall be glad if you will kindly institutions like the Hongkong Hotel, lay this letter before His Excellency the however, apparently require no such pro-
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
tection. They go into the details of the measure fairly and fully and they say that they consider it will cause serious inconvenience to them in their business. And surely, Sir, a hotel which has been run for fifty years has a right to say, at all events, that they do know something of how the business should be managed. Then, Sir,, Messrs. Dennys and Bowley have written on behalf of the King Edward Hotel, who also object to the Bill. The letter was written on the 3rd of this month. It is as follows: -
Hon. Mr. Claud Severn, C.M.G.,
Colonial Secretary.
No. 6. Des Voeux Road Central, Hongkong,
3rd October, 1917.
SIR,--We are instructed by the pro- prietors of the King Edward Hotel to address you with regard to the proposed Bill to amend the Liquors Consolida- tion Ordinance, 1911.
way
2. As we understand that the pro- posed legislation is not in any connected with the present war and, as the object, but no reason, is given for its introduction, our clients wish us to make representations on their behalf against a bill which will have the effect of cutting off a considerable source of revenue derived from the hotel and is a measure which could not possibly have been anticipated by our clients when they acquired the premises.
3.Our clients wish us to point out that the King Edward Hotel is one of the oldest established hotels in the Colony, that the "chit system" has been in vogue during the whole time of the hotel's existence, and that the prietors have found it to work satis- factorily both to the general public and to themselves.
pro-
4. It is well known that owing to the cumbersome nature of the local coinage it is not usual for dollars to be carried on the person, and for the same reason customers who use the public bars in the Colony resent receiving coins as change after payment in paper money. Our clients anticipate, and we think rightly, that the public will not spend much ready tash in places where they are not allowed to sign chits, but will resort to other places where they will have that privilege extended to them. This would practically stop the use of the hotel bars, except by the residents in the hotel, and the revenue derived from them would be extremely small in comparison to that obtained from the general public.
-
79
102
"chit
5. The disallowance of the system "will cause not only a great hardship to our clients but also a great inconvenience to the public generally. especially to members of the mercantile marine sailing to and from this port. In many instances ships' officers and others arriving at the port have to wait two or three days before receiving their salary, during which time they have hitherto enjoyed the privilege of sign- ing chits for any of their requirements as regards refreshments; these chits are invariably settled as soon as they receive their wages.
6. Another possible effect of the pro- posed legislation will be, we submit, to induce persons to frequent undesirable places where they can, upon signing chite, obtain as much liquor as they require.
7.-Finally, we would point out that not only will our clients' revenue con- siderably decrease but their expenses will be much greater owing to the neces sity-first, of having to pay higher salaries to all servants employed in the hotel who under the provisions of the proposed bill would be in the position of receiving cash payments; and, secondly, of having to obtain guarantees for the honesty and integrity of such
servants.
8. Our clients respectfully submit that, as there does not appear to be any justification for the proposed Bill, it should be withdrawn, and they trust that, after consideration of all the circumstances, His Excellency the Governor will not consider it advisable to interfere with the present system.- We are, Sir, yours faithfully,
(Sd.) DENNYS & BOWLEY. The main point made by this hotel is with reference to ships' officers arriving at this port, and I would especially draw attention to the last words in paragraph 5
these chits are invariably settled as soon as they receive their wages.' The Hong- kong Hotel and the King Edward Hotel are not like the other hotel referred to by the Colonial Secretary collectors of chits. They manage their business in a reasonable manner and see that they get paid. There, Sir, you have the opinions of the managers of the two biggest hotels in the City of Victoria. As against that we are asked to weigh the opinion of a manager of a hotel who at present appears before us not in the open but in the garb of anonymity. We are not even told who this manager is or what hotel it is which has made this terrible collection of chits, which has been, on the face of things, so
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.