Sessional_Paper_1899 — Page 26

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, No. 9.

TUESDAY, 27TH JUNE, 1899.

PRESENT:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR

(Sir HENRY ARTHUR BLAKE, G.C.M.G.).

His Excellency Major-General WILLIAM JULIUS GASCOIGNE, C.M.G., General Officer Commanding. The Honourable the Acting Attorney General, (HENRY EDWARD POLLOCK).

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the Harbour Master, (ROBERT MURRAY RUMSEY, R.N.).

the Colonial Treasurer, (ALEXANDER MACDONALD THOMSON).

the Captain Superintendent of Police, (FRANCIS HENDY MAY, C.M.G.).

the Director of Public Works, (ROBERT DALY ORMSBY).

CATCHICK PAUL CHATER, C.M.G.

HO KAI, M.B., C.M.

THOMAS HENDERSON WHITEHEAD. EMANUEL RAPHAEL BELILIOS, C.M.G.

JAMES JOHNSTONE KESWICK.

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ABSENT:

The Honourable the Colonial Secretary, (JAMES HALDANE STEWART LOCKHART, C.M.G.).

NEW MEMBER.Mr. KESWICK took his seat as a Member of the Council, after having taken the Oath prescribed by Ordinance No. 4 of 1869.

The Council met pursuant to adjournment.

The Minutes of the last Meeting, held on the 20th June, 1899, were read and confirmed.

PAPERS. The Acting Attorney General, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table the following papers :-

1. Petition from the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Limited, against

the second reading of the Bill entitled the Piers Ordinance, 1899.

2. Correspondence on the subject of the proposed arrangements for the protection of Chinese

Revenue in Hongkong.

QUESTIONS.-Mr. WHITEHEAD, pursuant to notice, asked the following questions:-

1. Will the Government lay upon the table a statement of the amount expended by the Public Works Department for repairs and alterations to Beaconsfield" and of the re-payments made by the owner of the building in respect of the former; also state for the information of the Council under what authority this expenditure has been disbursed?

2. Will the Government lay upon the table a statement of the total expenditure payable out of the Colonial Treasury in connection with the preparations for and the occupation of the Colony's new territory leased by China to Great Britain per the Convention of 30th June, 1898? 3. What steps have the Government taken to bring the Police Force up to its full strength as authorised by Ordinance, and are the Government prepared to introduce an Ordinance sanctioning the increase of the force to a strength sufficient for the adequate policing of the Colony's new territory?

4. Will the Government lay upon the table a copy of the correspondence which passed between the British Government and the Imperial Government of China and the Colonial Government on the subject of the arrangements to be made in accordance with the Convention of 20th June, 1898, for the better protection of the Chinese revenue from loss by the smuggling of opium from Hongkong into China?

5. Are the Government prepared to introduce a Bill to amend the Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance on similar lines, so far as circumstances permit, to those embodied in an “Ordinance to amend the Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance, 1896,” read a first time in the Singapore Legislative Council on Tuesday, 13th instant- the outcome of corres- pondence between the Straits Government, the Straits Settlements Association and the Secretary of State for the Colonies; and if not, will the Government inform the Council of the cause of the delay?

The Acting Attorney General replied.