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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 30TH JULY, 1898.
Reasons and Objects.
This Ordinance, while reproducing substantially the provisions of Ordinance No. 21 of 1886, as amended by Ordinance No. 11 of 1894, endeavours to remedy some defects and omissions which experience has shown to exist in the law relating to Spirit Licenses.
The Ordinance of 1886 provided no license for the whole- sale sale of Chinese wines and spirits, apparently through inadvertence, nor was any provision made for the sale of Chinese wines. Then, again, no suitable license was pro- vided for Chinese restaurants, while the question as to what were the rights (if any) of auctioneers selling for unlicensed principals or upon unlicensed premises, was left untouched. The question is now decided by the pre- sent Ordinance, and the solution is based on the experience gained in England. A reference to the Acts, 6 George 4 cap. 81 sec. 8, 8 Vict. cap. 15 sec. 6, and 27 and 28 Vict., cap 56 sec. 14, shows the history of the matter in the mother country, and section 31 of this Ordinance adopts the English law, with the necessary local modifications.
The Ordinance of 1886 defined retail sale, as sale in less quantities than two gallons, while the Adjunct License (form J) spoke of retailing in quantities not exceeding two gallons. The present Ordinance defines retail sales as those in quantities not exceeding two gallons.
The defects previously mentioned have been remedied in the present Ordinance and a Form of Eating-House License had been added.
It is not clear why eating-houses for Chinese customers only should have been exempted from the fee of $10, which had to be paid by others, an exemption made by Order of the Governor in Council, of 23rd July, 1886. The object of requiring a license is to prevent disorder and facilitate proper regulation, and the present Ordinance treats all eating-houses alike where no intoxicating liquors are sold and reduces the fee to $5.
Under the Ordinance of 1886 the prescribed fees were sometimes stated in the body of the Ordinance as well as in the Schedule. This is an inconvenient course as seen by the amending Ordinance No. 11 of 1894. In the pre- sent Ordinance the fees are specified in one of the Schedules, and thus facilitates alteration should it at any time become
necessary.
Chinese Wines and Spirits come within the definition of Intoxicating liquor; and, to prevent doubts which arose from time to time under Ordinance No. 21 of 1886, care has been taken to insert in those licences which do not authorize the sale of Chinese Wines and Spirits words excepting such wines and spirits. This has been done in the case of the ordinary Publican's license, but not in the case of the Adjunct license where no public bar is kept. So, also, in the case of the Grocer's license, the exception has been made, for the Chinese Wine and Spirit Shop license is the license appropriate for sales of Chinese Wines and Spirits.
In the case of the Chinese Restaurant license, no excep- tion has been made, so that the law will not prevent those Chinese who prefer European liquors with their meals obtai ning them from the Chinese restaurant they frequent or from which they have any meals sent to them.
Various minor verbal amendments have been made aud some additional headings provided to facilitate reference to the subject matter of the various sections, and it is trust- ed the Ordinance will meet the difficulties experienced in the present law, while preserving so much of it as has been found to work well in practice.
W. MEIGH GOODMAN, Attorney General.
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