Sessional_Paper_1900 — Page 112

108

(2)

6. Section 3 requires every Chinese so summoned to answer all questions which the Registrar General may ask him, and to produce to the Registrar Gene- ral, or to some person deputed by him, any books, documents, or other written matter; it permits the inspection of any property, and it gives powers similar to those vested in the Supreme Court of this Colony in regard to administering oaths to witnesses and examining witnesses on oath. Any person wilfully giving false evidence on oath before the Registrar General shall be liable upon summary con- viction before a Magistrate to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months with or without hard labour, or to the payment of a fine not exceeding $200 (Two hundred Dollars) which may be recovered by distress.

7. Sub-section (i.) of section 4 empowers the Registrar General to issue his Warrant for the arrest of any person omitting to attend when summoned, such Warrant to be executed by a Police Officer or Constable in the same manner as if it had been issued by a Magistrate. Every person so arrested shall be liable upon summary conviction before a Magistrate to the payment of a fine not exceeding $10 (Ten Dollars), &c.

8. Sub-section (ii.) of section 4 gives power to a Magistrate, on the applica- tion of the Registrar General, to order that the rents and profits of the Property, of any person absconding or concealing himself so that a Warrant against hin can- not be executed, shall be attached until such time as such person shall appear before the Registrar General in obedience to such Warrant. All or any of the rents and profits so attached may, if a Magistrate in his discretion shall so order, be forfeited to the Crown, &c.

9. The object in view in passing this Ordinance and the reasons which have appeared to His Excellency the Governor to justify the conferring of such very extraordinary and highly unconstitutional powers on the Registrar General are fully set forth in the speech of His Excellency in the Legislative Council when the Bill was before the Council on its second reading. I enclose a copy of said speech from the local Hansard, a publication which has the advantage of having its reports of speeches in the Council corrected by the speakers. According to His Excellency's statement the sole object of the Ordinance is to enable the Chinese residents in the New Territories to be compelled, under penalties, to give all particulars about their holdings and titles, some reluctance having been shown by the inhabitants in registering their lands and attending when summoned by the Registrar General to receive his explanations on the subject. The inhabitants of the New Territories have been slow to come in and register their lands. The cause of this slowness is supposed to be due to their ignorance and their suspicions as to the possible dangers to themselves if they register. The Government is naturally desirous of enlightening their ignorance, dissipating their suspicions, and have invited the men to come into Hongkong and have their difficulties explained away. May I point out that the Government when inviting these poor people (and they are mostly all of the very poorest of the agricultural class) to come into Hongkong has never offered to pay either the cost of their passage to and fro, nor the expenses of their detention in Hongkong, nor any compensation for any loss of their time? Many of these men would have a journey of ten or fifteen or twenty, or even more, miles over hills or by sea. It has not been made clear that the Government has done everything that was reasonably possible to do to enlighten the men by proclamations posted in their respective villages or by the publication or distribution of leaflets. These people are amongst the most ignorant of the population around Hongkong, and it is not unnatural that they should have held aloof and refused to travel into Hongkong at their own expense. There is no allegation that the inhabitants have, when asked for information which the Government had a right to have, refused to give that information. It would appear they have only refused to come into Hongkong to have the situation.