CO129-582-2 Vagrancy Amendment Ordinance 1939 1-5-1939 - 19-12-1939 — Page 18

NOX

SECRET.

RECE

19 SEP 1939 0.0. REGY

58997/39

3-18

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

5th September, 1939.

Amic &

2

Sir,

I ha the honour to acknowledge the receipt

of your secret despatch of 10th July, 1939, regarding

the proposed amendment of the Vagrancy Ordinance, 1897,

designed to take the place of Emergency Regulation No.4

in the regulations published by Government Notification

No.775 of 7th October, 1938, by which the Police are

empowered to detain and send away from the Colony any

person who has no regular employment. I now enclose

را

for your consideration a copy of the proposed Bill,

which I regret was omitted from my previous despatch

secret (2) of 1st May, 1939.

53682/35.

2.

The powers conferred under the Emergency

Regulations are not limited to aliens. I consider

however that the powers conferred on magistrates under

the present Bill should be so limited. There is no

intention of altering the provisions of the existing

law in regard to the deportation of British subjects.

3.

The provisions of the present Bill will not

curtail the powers conferred by Section 3 of Ordinance

No.39 of 1935 on the Governor-in-Council, but will

save possible recourse to those powers in the class of

case with which the draft Bill deals. It has in fact

never been the practice to deal with the destitute aliens

under Section 3 of Ordinance No.39 of 1935, unless they

have been convicted of a specific offence and the

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

MALCOLM MACDONALD, M.P.,

&C.,

&C.,

&C.