Sessional_Paper_1884-1885 — Page 171

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No. 633.

MONSIGNOR,

Enclosure 6.

Acting Colonial Secretary to Bishop Raimondi.

COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, HONGKONG, 5th June, 1884.

With reference to your letter of the 20th ultimo, and to previous correspon- dence respecting the same subject, I am directed by the Governor to inform you that His Excellency is advised that the observation of the Chief Justice to which you allude would appear to refer to the difficulties in which Trustees of Charities might find themselves placed, if they wanted to deal with their lands by way of sale or mortgage. But your difficulty in connexion with this Lot appears to be that the Crown Lease of the land is to The Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which is not a Body Corporate in English law, and you cannot therefore give a purchaser a good marketable title.

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I am to point out that you do not state to whom or to what body it is that you desire that incorporation should be granted, whether to the Bishop of Acantho or to the Sacred Congregation or to the Vicar Apostolic, or otherwise nor do you say who or what the Sacred Congregation is, or with what authority you apply on its behalf.

I am to add that it would be necessary, before anything could be done in the way of Legislation, that you should furnish full information upon the points men- tioned above.

Meanwhile the Governor will transmit by the next mail to the Secretary of State your letter of the 28th May ultimo; and will ask for the instructions of Her Majesty's Government as to how questions of this kind ought to be treated, and enquire what precedents there may be in other Colonies.

The Right Reverend

BISHOP J. T. RAIMONDI.

I have, &c.,

(Signed),

FREDERICK STEWART,

Acting Colonial Secretary.

Enclosure 7.

Bishop Raimondi to Acting Colonial Secretary.

ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION House, HONGKONG, 9th June, 1884.

SIR,

I have duly received your letter of the 5th instant, and in reply I beg to state:

1. We were induced to believe that the observations of the Chief Justice were. referring to our case from the words attributed by the Press to the Chief Justice— "His Lordship said there were some difficulties in the way of appointing trustees by the Court. In the first place the application was made by the London City Mission, and he did not know that he could take special notice of what the Society