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an amplification of the Regulations of 1946 but in essentials the Regulations of 1948 were the same as those of 1946 in that the Competent Authority was empowered by Order to fix maximum charges. On this occasion, however, the Competent Authority proceeded to make an Order and he did so because he found that the "gentlemen's agreement" was being departed from or forgotten by a number of hotels, including among that number hotels which are members of the Association whose petition is under consideration.
7.
The publication of the Order led to protests from the hotels, mainly on the ground that the controlled rates were unduly low, and as I was of the opinion that the Competent Authority had not given adequate consideration, in fixing the rates to all relevant factors, I decided to appoint the Hotel Rates Advisory Committee. The Committee consisted of five unofficials (one a European Chartered Accountant) together with
The Chinese Chartered Accountant as professional adviser. recommendations of the Committee were accepted by Government to form the basis of the Ordinance.
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8.
It is true that the Ordinance provides powers for the control of the whole hotel industry, but that would be an undertaking quite beyond the staff available to enforce the legislation and is not considered essential as the bulk of the Control has hotel accommodation is used by transient guests.
in fact been restricted to 24 hotels, including 18 only of the 83 members of the petitioning Association, of whom 10 will be required to reserve only 20% of their accommodation for Hong Kong residents in accordance with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee. Furthermore, representation against the enactment of the Ordinance has not been received from the four principal hotels of the Colony (named in items 1-4 of the First Schedule to the Regulations to the Ordinance).
9.
In recommending the limitation of control to specified hotels and percentages of accommodation, the Advisory Committee, while also appreciating that wholesale control would be impracticable and undesirable, was moved more by the consideration that measures were pressingly needed to protect Hong Kong residents, who by reason of the housing shortage have been compelled to live in hotels and to an increasing extent have had to pay charges for this accommodation determined by the amounts wealthy visitors and refugees were willing and able to pay.
10.
With this end in view the Committee singled out hotels and allotted percentages of reserved accommodation for residents on the basis of knowledge as to the extent to which
It these hotels were normally used as residential hotels. was because the "Tuck Lin" and "Lucky" Apartments, unlike most Chinese boarding houses, were catering for resident guests that control of their rates was recommended.
11.
The suggestion in paragraph 23 of the petition
that unduly wide powers have been given to the Quartering Authority is belied by the fact that by section 4(3)(a) of the Ordinance all Regulations require the approval of Legislative Council before coming into force, and that in the matter of the allocation of rooms as reserved accommodation the hotels have the right to resort to arbitration. Nor do the powers given curtail in any way the ordinary rights of hotel managements to evict a person who, for example, fails to pay his bill.
12.
Of the contention that the imposition of controlled rates will cause some of the hotels to operate at a loss, I think it is sufficient to say that the Advisory Committee's
/recommendations were
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