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immensely increasing the prevalence of the opium habit in China. Even Exeter Hall will hardly consider this a satisfactory out- come of so much vituperative energy.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.
A meeting of the Hongkong Legislative Council was held on the 20th December in the Council Chamber. Present:--
His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR, Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON, G.C.M.G.
His EXCELLENCY Major-General BLACK. C. B. (Officer Commanding the Forces).
Hon. J. H. STEWART LOCKHART (Colonial Secretary).
Hon. R. MURRAY RUMSEY (Harbour Master).
Hon. F. H. MAY, C.M.G. (Captain Super- intendent of Police).
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
England or the United Kingdom being taken as In 1888 the light a highly" civilized country." dues in England were raised to 5 per cent. to sup. ply a deficit in the Mercantile Marine Fuud, and in 1892 there was sufficient surplus to pay off £100,000 debt of that fund. There are many other instances of inaccuracy in the petition, but the most astounding of them all is the one which asserts that a levy of 24 cents per ton on ship- ping coming to this port would deter ships from | coming to it. The assertion, sir, is in my opinion so utterly ridiculous that it is not worth while taking up the time of the Council half one minute with arguments against it. There were no arguments in favour of it; it was just a bare-- assertion, and I think it will be more compli mentary to the gentlemen who signed that peti- tion to believe they did not err in ignorance but that it was merely to raise a bogey to scare the Government. into their own way of thinking. The effect of the resolution which I have the honour to propose will be that from the 1st January next the largest ship which has пр
to the present day entered this port will pay as her contribution, when she comes here Hon. R. D. ORMSBY (Director of Public next, trading in the waters of the colony, £4. Works).
That same ship will carry cargo amounting to 7,500 tons, and at the rate of freight-which will not be exceptional-of 30/- she will earn in freight £10,000, and she will come here and pay £4. The average ship that comes here will pay $13 and the river steamers, aggregating a ton- nage of nearly 1 million tons. will pay $2,500 ---$2.500 for 1 million tons. Side by side with that they will be paying five or six times that amount to the Government of China for ove or two Chinese ports they enter. They will be earning nearly $600,000 in passage money only for those ports and they will be pay. ing their shareholders 16 per ceut. ing, sir, from a phrase which has become almost a sort of catch-word among a certain section of the community, namely, that "the shipping is the life blood of this colony," I submit to the Council that what is chiefly remarkable is the miserably feeble amonnt of sustenance which the colony will derive from its life blood. (Hear, hear.) With these re- marks I beg to move the resolution.
Hon. T. SERCOMBE SMITH (Colonial Treasurer).
.
Hon. C. P. CHATER, C.M.G.
Hon. Ho KAI,
Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD.
Hon. WEI A YUK,
Mr. J. G. T. BUCKLE (Clerk of Councils), MINUTES.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The report of the Finance Committee (No. 12) was adopted on the motion of the COLONIAL SECRETARY, seconded by the COLONIAL TREA-
SURER,
LIGHT DUES.
was
The HARBOUR MASTER-Sir, I rise to move the resolution standing in my name. Section 33 of Ordinance 26 of 1891 provides that the rate of light dues shall be fixed by order of the Go- vernor pursuant to a resolution of this Council, and the resolution which I am about to more will be the first step towards fixing the rate of light dues from the 1st January next. The subject of light dues is one which bas re- ceived a considerable amount of attention and much has been written and spoken on the subject, but pot in all cases, have those who have written or spoken had a very intimate knowledge of the subject. As an instance of this kind I would point to a letter, which was laid on this table, written by my friend the Secretary of the P. and O. Company to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in which it was confidently stated that 5,772,289 tons, which was the amount of European shipping entering this harbour in 1895, would at the rate of 1 cent, per ton for light dues produce upwards of $57,000. This inaccurate and 30 per cent. out. As a matter of fact 1 cent per ton for light dues in 1895 would have produced $43.557, instead of, as he says, upwards of $57,000. Many other instances of inaccuracy are also to be found in the petition which was forwarded to the Government and signed by the members of the leading commercial firms and others. One of those inaccuracies was that the taxing of ships in aid of the general re- venue was opposed to the policy of the leading commercial nations. I do not suppose that those gentlemen who signed that petition, even if they read it-which is not always the practice in this colony-would object to my saying that the United States of America might be considered a leading commercial nation. In 1886 they levied a tax of 6 to 30 cents per ton per annum, and the money raised was ap- plied first to the extinction of the public debt; secondly, to the cost of national defence; and thirdly, to public uses generally, There is another inaccuracy in the petition. The peti- tioners said "We very much doubt if in any civilized country has a deliberate attempt ever been made to raise a profit revenue out of light dues. They have always been imposed for the express purpose of providing for the construc- tion and maintenance of lighthouses, banys, and beacons and for no other purpose what- soever." I asked just now that the United States of America might be considered us a leading commerical nation. Now I do not suppose there will be any objection to
Borrow-
The resolution provides for the exaction of light dues from the 1st of January next on all ships entering the waters of the colony at the rate of 1 per cent. per ton. All steamers ply. ing only between Hongkong and Canton, or Macao, or the West River, which enter the waters of the colony by night, shall pay one- third of a cent per ton.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded. Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD Sir, I have listened with very great attention to the re- marks of the Hon. Harbour Master, and on the spur of the moment I am not in a position to accept as Gospel all that he has said; but I have not the least doubt in the world that what he has said is fonnded on the best information that was at his disposal. I think that it is an extremely fortunate thing for Hongkong that the home authorities have taken the same view of this question as the local shipping com- munity have taken. They have throughout been very desirous that shipping should pay its own way and that what money is required for the maintenance and upkeep of the lighthouses and the maintenance and regulation of the harbour should be borne by the shipping. I have not the least doubt in the world that
actnated by wise motives Macao is
in following the example which had been origin ally set by Hongkong in making it a free port. I think that Macao might even go further and do as others have suggested in Hongkong, namely, that the Hongkong Govern ment should offer a premium to shipping to come here. It would pay us in the end; I am sure it would, sir. The more shipping we attract here he greater will be our trade and greater the attending advantages. In every direction we should gain by taking such a step. My friend (the Harbour Master) smiles, but I can smile also. I think the community of Hongkong will long remain under a great debt of gratitude to your Excellency for having recommended the home Government to tax the dues on shipping to what will simply reimburse the Government for the outlay thereon. have no amendment to propose and I shall support the resolution.
The resolution was carried.
I
|
[December 22, 1897.
THE NEW PUBLIC OFFICES,
In pursuance of notice Hon. T. H. WHITE- HEAD asked the following question -Will the Government lay upon the table a copy of the correspondence which has passed between the home authorities and the Colonial Government in connection with the proposed new Public Offices subsequent to that already published?
The COLONIAL SECRETARY-The question of.new Public Offices has been referred to the Public Works Committee of this Conncil. It is not proposed to publish any further papers in connection with this matter until the report of that Committee hs been received,
NATURALIZATION ORDINANCE. The COLONIAL SECRETARY, in the absence of the Attorney-General, who was engaged at the Supreme Court, moved the first reading of a Bill entitled an Ordinance for the naturaliza- tion of Wong Chuk-yau, alias Wong Mau, alias Wong Sun in.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded. Bill read the first time.
MISDEMEANOURS PUNISHMENT
ORDINANCE.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the first
reading of a Bill entitled an Ordinance for the more effectual punishment of bribery and cer- tain other misdemeanours.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded. Bill read the first time,
THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON, His EXCELLENCY-That is all the business, gentlemen. I hope you will thoroughly enjoy your Christmas holidays, which have been well earned. I propose to adjourn the Council sine die and I am glad to be able to do so without any prejudice to the public service whatever. I take this opportunity of wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, (Applause.)
SUREME COURT.
15th December.
In Original JuRISDICTION,
BLFORE SIR JOHN CARRINGTON (CHIEF JUSTICE).
GUBBAY AND OTHERS V. BELILIOS.
The hearing was resumed of the equity suit in which the plaintiffs, D. A. Gubbay, A. J. Ray- mond, and A. J. David petitioned the Court, ou behalf of themselves and of all others of the Jewish community in Hongkong, except the defendant, for a declaration that the defend- ant purchased a certain lot of land in this colony known as Inland Lot No. 1,391, as a trustee for and on behalf of the plaintiff's and of all the other members of the Jewish com- munity in Hongkong, and that he now held the property in trust for the Jewish community subject to the payment to him of whatever monies he expended in the purchase.
Mr. J. J. Francis, Q.C. (instructed by Mr. O. D, Thomson, of Messrs. Deacon and Hastings), appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr. 11. E. Pollock (instructed by Messrs. Wilkinson and Grist) for the defendant.
Mr. Francis proceeded to call rebutting evidence.
Mr. D. Silas said-I am an assistant in the firm of D. Sassoon, Sous & Co. and a meinber of the Jewish community in this colony. I arrived from Shanghai about January, 1895, and about eight or nine months] afterwards took up the duties of hon. secretary to the Jewish community. I took over the papers; in connection with the new synagogue from E, D, Sassoon and Co., who were looking over the old synagogue affairs at that time. I took considér- able interest in the question of the new syna- gogue and I applied to Messrs. Leigh and Orange to prepare plans with a view to the erection of a new synagogue. At that time there was DO regular Committee in existence. The letter, dated 20th May, 1896, to Jacob E. Sassoon, of London, was prepared by me. There is a refer- ence to the report by Messrs. Leigh and Orange on the proposed new synagogue, and plans and drawings were forwarded with the report. The letter is signed by Mr. Belilios, who saw the letter before he signed it. He also saw Leigh and Orange's plans. Before dealing with the
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