409
Objects and Reasons.
1. Section 46 of the Opium Ordinance, 1914, enacts that no ship shall be used for the conveyance of opium in contravention of the Ordinance. It also provides that if a certain amount of opium is found on a ship that fact shall be prima facie evidence of an unlawful use of the ship. The section makes the amount vary according to the tonnage of the ship in the case of steamships. The expression used in the section is tons burden ". Clause 2 of the bill is intended to make it clear that net register tonnage is referred to. The term tons burden was so interpreted in section 3 (1) of the Mer- chant Shipping Act, 1894, in The Brunel (1900) P. 24.
"
CC
2. Clause 3 deals with a similar point in section 49 (2) of the Opium Ordinance, 1914. That sub-section provides that any ship of less than 15 tons in which is found any opium in respect of which an offence against the Ordinance has been committed may be forfeited. Here the word "tons" is ambiguous and the clause is intended to make it clear that net register tonnage is referred to.
3. Clause 4 corrects an obvious mistake in section 57 of the Opium Ordinance, 1914.
4. In section 2 of the Opium Ordinance, 1917, the word "resembling" is not sufficiently exact, as resem- blance might not amount to a colourable imitation. Clause 5 amends the section so as to restrict it to colourable imitations.
5. Section 56 of the Opium Ordinance, 1914, makes it an offence to counterfeit marks used by the Superin- tendent in connection with Government opium. The section also makes it an offence to use any such counter- feited mark as genuine. Section 2 of the Opium Ordi- nance, 1917, makes it an offence to be in possession of labels, wrappers or marks resembling the Government labels, wrappers or marks, and clause 3 of the bill is intended to make it clear that this prohibition refers to colourable imitations. Clause 6 deals with another kind of fraud in connection with opium labels and wrappers. It makes it an offence to have, without lawful authority or excuse, any Govertiment opium: labels or wrappers which have been detached from the Government recep- tacles. The object of detaching such labels and wrap- pers is of course to use them again for the purpose of selling non-Government opium as Government opium.
6. Clause 7 throws the onus on the defendant of proving absence of guilty knowledge when once it is proved that he has had in his possession a box or package containing opium.
26th September, 1918.
J. H. KEMP,
Attorney General,
A BILL
INTITULED
An Ordinance to apply a sum not exceeding Ten million six hundred and five thousand three hundred and forty-five Dollars to the Public Service of the year 1919.
WHEREAS the expenditure required for the service of this Colony for the year 1919 has, apart from the contri- bution to the Imperial Government in aid of Military Expenditure and Charges on account of Public Debt, been estimated at the sum of Ten million six hundred and five thousand three hundred and forty-five Dollars:
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.