CO129-511-7 Watchmen Ordinance- 1928- petition against certain clauses 18-5-1928 - 21-11-1928 — Page 32

34

Ordinance and regulations generally, but it will be no offence

for an unregistered Chinese watchman to act as such, and it

will be no offence for an employer to employ an unregistered

Chinese person as a watchinan.

5. The original proposals included, inter alia, the following

features :

6.

(a)

All registered watchmen, i.e, all

watchmen to whom the legislation was

to apply, were to be subject to

discipline and training by the Captain

Superintendent of Police and were to be

paid through him, and certain minimum

rates of pay were to be fixed for all

registered watchmen.

(b) No registered watchman was to be allowed

to act as a money-lender.

(c) No registered watchman was to be allowed

to perform the duties of a watchman for

more than one employer.

When the bill was published a request was received from a

number of Indian watchmen through a firm of solicitors for the

permission to appear by counsel before the Legislative Council

on the second reading. The points which the applicants

proposed to put before the Council included the following

objections :-

(a)

The bill was a negation of the individual

right of bargaining with regard to one's

services.

(3)

Police training would make considerable

inroads on the time and pay of watchmen.

(c) The prohibition against money-lending

would be a great hardship.