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no intention of using this Ordinance for purposes of criminal enquiry. All criminal offences in the New Territory are dealt with in exactly the same way as in Hongkong proper.

7. Paragraph 9.—I have already dealt with the general statements contained in this paragraph, but there are one or two points to which I wish to call particular

attention.

8. Mr. WHITEHEAD states 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 compensa- "tion 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 would appear "that they have only refused to come into Hongkong to have the situation ex- "plained to them, and that, I submit, may be due to the expense entailed in tra- "velling to Hongkong."

9. Unfortunately for Mr. WHITEHEAD's argument his statements are not cor- rect and his facts are wrong.

10. In each case in which the inhabitants of the New Territory have come to Hongkong to receive explanations of Government measures, conveyance has been provided for them by Government and steps have been taken to make their stay in Hongkong a pleasant one. As a matter of fact there have been only two occa- sions on which the inhabitants of the New Territory have been brought into Hong- kong. On both occasions these parties had been invited, in the first instance, to appear at Táipó, but did not attend, although on one occasion the Registrar General had proceeded from Hongkong to Táipó to meet them. The result of the interviews in Hongkong on both occasions proved most satisfactory, and the parties expressed their thanks for the reception accorded to them. I may mention that. many of the Committee-men have come to Hongkong or Táipó of their own ac- cord and have frequently been afforded conveyance by the Government.

11. Mr. WHITEHEAD seems to think that any person summoned to attend will have to appear before the Registrar General in Hongkong. I have already referred to the Governor having met the Committee-men at Táipó an1 Ping-shan; to the Registrar General having proceedel to Táipó to meet certain of the inhabitants, and to other officials having visited every village. There is no intention on the part of the Government to inflict unnecessary hardships on the inhabitants of the New Territory, as Mr. WHITEHEAD suggests. The object of the Government is to benefit the people, not to injure them. That being the case, it does not propose to make the inhabitants come to Hongkong unless compelled to do so, and if it is necessary to compel their attendance in Hongkong, arrangements will be made in the future, as in the past, to provide then with conveyance and to see they are properly looked after.

12. Mr. WHITEHEAD states :—

"It has not been male clear that the Government has done every- "thing that was reasonably possible to do to enlighten the men by pro- "clamation posted in their respective villages or by the publication or "distribution of leaflets."

It would be interesting to know what steps Mr. WHITEHEAD took to enlighten himself on this subject before he committed himself to this statement. Everything possible has been done in the way of proclamation and leaflet to inform the people of the intentions of the Government. Thousands of notices on a variety of subjects have been posted in each village, and, as I have already stated, twó thousand copies of the Chinese translation of the speech of the Governor to the