684139-1880-Treatment-of-Paupers-in-Hongkong- — Page 5

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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 9TH JUNE, 1880.

before the view of the benighted so-called semi-

civilized pagans of China the bright example of a Christian Government and a civilized commu-

nity. And indeed when we compare the state of things in Hongkong with that of England we seem to have someting to boast of by way of the

blood-bought results of this unchristian mode of dealing with the poor and the destitute. Whilst

according to the Statesman's Year-Book for 1880

(p. 243) the number of paupers, exclusive of vagrants and casual poor, in receipt of public relief in the several unions and parishes of England and Wales in 1879, amounting to 800,426, is such that there is at present one pauper to every thirty persons in England and Wales, we have in a population of over 140.000 Chinese in Hong- kong not one pauper in receipt of Government or Colonial relief, and the actual number of paupers in the Colony may safely be estimated not to

exceed a few hundred. But, however successful

the results of this barbaric policy of bruté repres- sion may appear on the surface, the means employed to secure these results are anything but creditable to a Christian Government or a civilized community.

3.- Dangers to be avoided in dealing with. destitutes in Hongkong.

As regards foreign destitutes, who are aliens, it is obvious that with the aid afforded by the private charity of the various nationalities repre-

sented among the residents of Hongkong, under

the guidance of their respective Consuls, the condition of those foreign destitutes, who are aliens, Government interference would be entirely uncalled for. In the case of non-deseript foreign destitutes, disowned by their respective Consuls, and in the case of British destitutes, anything done by the Government over and above what is now being done in furnishing such destitutes with board and lodging in the Gaol, would tend to make the situation of a "beach comber ” destitute here more eligible than the lot of a hardworking seaman or stoker, and consequently put a premium on loating and idleness. Portu- guese destitutes also may well be left to the care of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul which, in case of special need, will know how to apply to Government for aid.

As regards Chinese destitutes it may fairly be conceded, that, barbaric as the provisions of such local Ordinances are as those of No. 8 of 1858 and No. 8 of 1876 which authorise whipping and deportation in simple cases of mendicancy, they were no doubt prompted by the danger which

does lie near, on account of the proximity of the Chinese frontier, that indiscriminate and lavish aid afforded in Hongkong to destitutes, be it by the Government or by private charity, would practically act like a magnet attracting from all the nooks and corners of the Cantou Province swarms of professional beggars and lepers to a Colony like this where money is more plentiful than anywhere in the province of Canton. It must also be considered that the lot of a

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則例一千八百五十八年第八條及 一千八百七十六年第八條等所定

家有禮儀之衆庶實有榮焉 烈之例以殘忍之心幽因窮窘之人就其外者而觀之似 受國家或本港之餉約計港中無賴者可云百數但此猛 三十停一惟香港華人溢於十四萬而竟未有一無賴者

宰臣年報第二百四十三篇所言於一千八百七十九年 鯨道而待病窘人之法致有血氣所生之徒故也照現年 乎獲益甚大而用此取之道又烏能謂於信耶穌之國 十六人核較大英本土及威兒士二國民數計無賴者居 現備牢房内具飲食棲宿外另行助此窮窘之人則恐 遭貧困者外計無賴徒領受國餉者八十萬零零四百二 民未有領事官認之者與屬英籍之窮窘人倘國家除 儀之泉摭其中所有之 三辦理香港窮籍者之事所免之危險 在大英本土及威兒士二國各縣之册除無藉流民及暫 無庸謂國家必須干涉其事此理顯然惟尚有無藉流 光若將香港情形較 英國庶幾果有叫誇以用不合 致於外國不屬英籍之窮窘人諒蒙各國居港救濟 窮窘及伊領事官爲之辦理故凡不屬英藉之窮窘人

惟彼西洋人之窮窘者似可任由聖保祿濟貧會辦理 厥事如有格外緊急之情彼自可稟求國家周邮 之榜人似此又奚異於開遊浪蕩者爲之大加獎賞圳 俗稱水老鼠及窮窘人之遭逢較勝勤勞之舟子燒火

各欸殊猛烈蓋爲慣乞案情斷以 窮窘 之輩其命原非極苦者蓋在 廣東內地故也要之中國行乞之人 疾之人擁集疾趨來港以香港富於 作指南轉使廣東一帶所有行乞瘋 家與及居民周邮過易誠爲乞人 調香港逼近華人地方如果本港國 鞭笞遷徙所以如此者因該例原意