His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government said that an Ordinance would be laid before the Council in due course.
ECCLESIASTICAL GRANTS.-The Honourable T. JACKSON, pursuant to notice moved the following resolutions, and addressed the Council :--
1.-That the Secretary of State for the Colonies be invited to reconsider the decision which has been arrived at as to the withdrawal of ecclesiastical grants in this Colony, with a view to the continuance of such grants, as in Singapore and in Mauritius,
2.That the only expenditure which could be retrenched under the instructions received is a small salary, nominally of £800, but really of £640, paid to the Colonial Chaplain, and representing little more than remuneration for the necessary services of burying the dead, attendance at the gaol, at hospitals, &c.
3. That if this salary be withdrawn, the Colony will have to pay nearly if not quite as much in allowances for these services, thus substituting a precarious and unsatisfactory arrangement for one which works to the satisfaction of all concerned.
4. That the instructions to disestablish the Church on the first opportunity were not called for by any public demand, and that no public feeling exists in the Colony on the subject except such as is adverse to the course proposed.
5.-That the policy of disestablishment, still far from being generally accepted at home, has been, as far as the information of this Council goes, distasteful to every Colony on which it has been imposed; that it has been reversed in two Colonies, and in at least one more continues to be an offence and a public grievance to the Community.
6. That a doubtful policy of this kind should not be, in ignorance of many of the essential circumstances of the case, needlessly forced upon an unwilling community which, administering its own revenue, is more interested in guarding against the misappropriation of that revenue than any external authority can be.
The Honourable W. KESWICK seconded the motion, and addressed the Council.
Question-put and passed.
His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government addressed the Council and said that he would have much pleasure in transmitting these Resolutions to the Secretary of State.
BILL ENTITLED THE CATHEDRAL ORDINANCE, 1886.-FIRST READING.-On the motion of the Honourable T. JACKSON, seconded by the Treasurer, this Bill was read a first time.
BILL ENTITLED THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS ORDINANCE, 1886.-COMMITTED,— On the motion of the Acting Attorney General, the Council went into Committee on this Bill.
Bill reported with amendment.
The Attorney General gave notice that at the next meeting of Council he would move that the Bill be read a third time.
BILL ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO VAGRANTS.-COMMITTED,— On the motion of the Attorney General the Council went into Committee on this Bill.
Progress reported.
BILL ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE FOR THE INCORPORATION OF THE PROCURATOR OF THE DOMINICAN MISSIONS IN THE FAR EAST, IN HONGKONG.--The Surveyor General gave notice that at the next meet- ing of Council he would move the first reading of this Bill.
POSTPONEMENT OF THE OTHER ORDERS OF THE DAY.-The Acting Attorney General moved that the other Orders of the Day be postponed.
ADJOURNMENT.--The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 31st instant, at 4 P.M.
Read and confirmed, this 31st day of March, 1886.
ARATHOON SETH,
Clerk of Councils.
W. H. MARSH,
Administering the Government.
55
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.