May 6, 1867
tion and that one at least of the parties is Member of the Chamber.
THE OPERATION OF THE VAGRANCY ORDINANCE,
|
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
353
SECRET "MEETINGS OF THE UN- | and which are in accord with the Financial,
OFFICIAL MEMBERS OF
Instructions on the subject of the date of in- » COUNCIL.
troducing the Estimates into Council-I have,
The following correspondence has been for warded to us by the Hon. T. H. Whitehead for publication —
HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD TO THE GOVERNOR.
Hongkong, 24th April, 1897.
The hardships entailed on shipowners and masters by the operation of the Vagrancy Or dinance (No. 12 of 1888) having been brought very prominently into relief by a case in which the master of the British steamer Chingtu was fined $600, for detaining some Japanese stowa Dear Sir William,-I observe from the cor- ways after arrival of the vessel in port, a letter respondence in connection with the Light Dues was on the 5th January addressed to the Go- question, published in this morning's paper, vernment pointing out the injustice caused in that a reply has been received from the Se- its working, and suggesting some modification cretary of State, dated 17th alto, to your of its provisions. So far no response has been Excellency's despatch of 18th January, for given to the suggestion, but it is hoped the warding the petition from the Shipping com matter is under the consideration of the Lawmunity dated 24th December last. Officers of the colony.
HONGKONG AND THE POSTAL SUBSIDY.
I have now the honour to request that you will be so good as to instruct the Honourable the Colonial Secretary to send me a copy of your Excellency's despatch to the Secretary of State forwarding my letter dated the 2nd December last on the same subject, together with a copy of the Secretary of State's reply thereto. It will be observed that my letter of 2nd December was written some six to seven weeks prior to your Excellency's letter of 18th January now acknowledged. I have the honour to be, yours very truly,
Another attempt is being made to compel this colony to pay what is computed to be its share of the subsidy to the P. & O S. N. Co. for carrying the Eastern mails calculated on a mileage basis. The last attempt made, in 1883, to get the colony to contribute £12,000 as its share of the subsidy, was successfully withstood by the Colonial Office, and was ultimately compounded for half that amount. It is now sought to obtain a sum which will approximate to £12,000, and the Chamber has been invited by the Government to express their views on the subject. The matter is now under con- sideration, and, needless to say, your Committee will not fail to fight this question out to the THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO HƠN. T. H. end, as the demand, if conceded, would lead to an unreasonable and unjust imposition on the colony.
THE CHAMBER'S REPRESENTATIVE IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
On the 19th September, at a special general meeting of the members of the Chamber, Mr. Thomas Henderson Whitehead, whose appoint ment as member of the Legislative Council terminated on that date, was, on the invitation of the Governor, re-nominated to that position, and the decision of the Chamber having been duly conveyed through the usual channel, His Excellency announced that he should have, great pleasure in re-appointing its nominee to a seat on the Council.
THE COMMITTEE,
}
The Hon. J. J. Bell-Irving, who at the last annual meeting was in his absence elected Chairman of the Committee, baving declined the honour at its next subsequent sitting, Mr. A. McConachie, the Vice-Chairman, was elected Chairman and Mr. Herbert Smith consented to accept the Vice-Chair. Mr. McConachie, who has since left for England, tendered his resig- nation on the 3rd April. Mr. G. B. Dodwell tendered his resignation on leaving the colony in September last, and Mr. R. M. Gray has since accepted an invitation to rejoin the Com: mittee.
MEMBERS. ·
(Signed) T. H. WHITEHEAD.
Sir His Excellency
William Robinson, K.C.M.G. ko., &c., &o.
:
?
< WHITEHEAD,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 26th April, 1897. Sir,-In reply to your letter of the 24th in- stant, I am directed to forward to you a copy of the correspondence noted in the margin.-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
(Signed) J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Colonial Secretary.
The Honourable T. H. Whitehead.
* 1.-Despatch from Governor to Secretary of State, enclosing correspondence regarding Light Dues, &c. 2.-The reply of the Secretary of State.
THE GOVERNOR TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
Government House,
Hongkong, 21st December, 1896. Sir, I have the honour to forward herewith copies of Sessional Paper No. 37 of 1896 con- taining a correspondence which has passed be- tween me and the Unofficial Members of Coun oil on the subject of Light Dues, a letter from the Honourable T. H. Whitehead, and a dis- cussion which took place in the Legislative Council on the subject of Mr. Whitehead's letter.
3.-I do not propose on the present occasion to deal with the general question of Light Dues, which will form the subject of a separate com- munication when the matter has been discussed in Conncil and I am in possession of the views of the shipping firms, which I understand will be communicated to me shortly.
2. You will observe that in his letter Mr. Whitehead desires that what he terms his pro- The roll of members has been materially in test may be forwarded to you and this is my creased during the past year, and no losses reason for transmitting to you the correspon- have been sustained either by death or resigna-dence to which reference is made above. tion. The following have been admitted to membership subject to confirmation at the annual meetingMessrs. W. G. Humphreys &Co., Mr. E. Robinson, Messrs. F. Blackhead & Co., Harling, Buschmann & Menzell, Sander & Co., Wm. Meyerink & Co., Radecker & Co., Jebsen & Co., Wieler & Co., M. S. Sassoon & Co., Drs. Hartigan, Stedman & Rennie, The Yokohama Specie Bank, Limited, Mr. W. Danby, Mr. H. L. Denuys, Messrs. Harvie & Co, Mr. A. R. Marty, The Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mr. Paul Jordan, The China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co., Messrs. Grossmann & Co., Kruse & Co., H. Skött & Co., the Hongkong & China Gas Co., Limited, and Mr. Ho Fook.
FINANCE.
The accounts for the year ending 31st December were audited by Messrs. Gershom Stewart and J. Y. V. Vernon. The balance at the credit of Chamber amounted to $3,266.48, of which amount the sum of $3,000 was at the commencement of the current year placed on fixed deposit. The Pinnacle Rock Fund (now amounting to $3.173.89) is also still on fixed deposit, both accounts being in the hands of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Cor- poration.
Hongkong, 10th April, 1897 REIN
&c.,
(8d.) WILLIAM Robinson, The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, -
M.P.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR.
Downing Street, 27th January, 1897. Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 287 of the 21st altimo enclosing copies of correspondence between yourself and the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council on the subject of the Gap Rock Lighthouse Rate, together with copy of a letter from Mr. Whitehead on the subject and a report of a discussion which took place in the Legislative Council,
2.-On the general question of the Light Dues I shall await your promised despatch, which shall receive the most careful considera tion,
3.-The delay in the publication of the Es timates to which Mr. Whitehead alludes is a common subject of reasonable complaint and care will no doubt be taken that in future years Estimates are placed before the Council at an earlier date.
4. The question of the procedure adopted on the occasion in point was one for the Gov- ernor's discretion, and I am not inclined to comment upon either the substance or the form of Mr. Whitehead's representations,-I' bave, &c.,
(Signed) J. CHAMBERLAIN. Governor Sir W. Robinson, K.C.M.G., &o, &c.,
DR. AYRES AND THE POLICE.
PRESENTATION OF AN ADDRESS, On the 28th April the members of the Hong- kong Police Force presented an address to Dr. Ayres on his departure from the colony. Dr. Ayres has held the position of Colonial Surgeon in Hongkong for upwards of 23 years, and during the whole of that time has been the medical adviser to the Police. Having retired from the Colonial Service the esteemed doctor leaves to-day for England, and the members of the Force took this opportunity of showing their appeciation of his past services by the presentation of a farewell address. The men were drawn up on the parade ground at four o'clock and after being inspected by the Hon. F. H. May (Captain Superintendent) and Dr. Ayres, the presentation was made in their presence.
The Captain Superintendent said he had been asked by the members of the Police Force to make the presentation. By the retirement of Dr. Ayres the Police would lose a very old and- true friend, a friend who had proved the truth of the old saying that a friend in need is a friend indeed. It was not only "in" sickness that they had found their worthy doctor a true and valuable friend; but out of the sick room he had always cheered them with his kind interest in their welfare. Dr. Ayres was held in great affection by every member of the Police Force and it was as a slight token of their regard and esteem that they asked his acceptance of the
address.
4. With regard to Mr. Whitehead's protest Mr. May then read the address, which was as against consulting the Unofficial Members of follows" To Philip Burnard Chenery Ayres, Council privately, it will be seen on reference to C.M.G., M.E.0.8., Eng., L.M., L.B.O.P., Edin, Sir, the correspondence with the Unofficial Mem-We, the undersigned members of the Police bers and the discussion in Council that I had no desire to consult them privately and ex- pressed no wish and gave no indication that the official communication addressed by me to the Senior Unofficial Member should be regarded as confidential or secret. As a matter of fact, both Mr. Whitehead and the Honourable Ho Kai stated in Council that they had not treated it as such, but that they had con- sulted those whose interests they as Members of the Legislative Council are supposed to re present on the matter with which the correspon- dence deals.
5. With respect to Mr. Whitehead's desire that the Estimates should be introduced at an earlier date, I will cause a note to be made of his wishes in this respect, which are reasonable
Force, desire to express to you, on your retire- ment from the Public Service, our warmest thanks for the many acts of kindness that we and our families have experienced at your hands, our high sense of your professional skill, our profound appreciation of the self sacrificing devotion you have ever evinced in furthering our welfare, and our heartfelt gratitude for your never failing succour and sympathy in the hour of sickness and sorrow.
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"For over twenty-three years you have held the important post of Colenial Surgeon in this colony. During the whole of that time you alone have had the professional care of our selves, our wives, and children.
"Yon have had besides many other arduous duties to perform, as head of the Medical Depart--
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