months. From and after the com- of this Ordinance the fee payable for such licence as aforesaid shall be $1,200 per anmum payable in advance, but no person who at the date of the commencement of this Ordin
noë possesses s valid and unexpired licence for importing or dealing in arms netti take out a licence under this Ordinance until the ex- piration of his current licence."
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That the objects and reasons annexed to the said Bill as printed and published in the Hongkong Government Gazette of the 24th June 1899 contain (inter alia), the following state- ment only with regard to the proposed annual Hoence fee of $1,200 per annum viz — Fe(III) To raise the annual licence fee from
the sum of $10 to $1,200.” .
6That your petitioners respectfully beg to protest against the imposition of such pro- posed annual fee of $1,200 on the grounds that is excessive and prohibitive and that no suff- cient reasons for the imposition thereof are given in the said “objects and reasons and more particularly on the grounds and for the ressons hereinafter set forth.
03
7That in this Colony the business of dealers in Arms it as compared with other
forms of business carried on therein extra.
ordinarily hampered and curtailed primarily through the provisions of the said Ordinance No 8 of 1895 which so fetters and confines the said business as to deprive it of that freedom which is usually enjoyed by other forms of business in this Colony and which your Peti- tioners submit it is the policy of the British Empire to ensure to its subjects.
8That one of the practical results of the provisions of section 6 of the said Ordinance No. 8 of 1895 is to debar your Petitioners from retailing any of their stock in trade within this Colony or its Dependencies owing to the fact that all purchasers must possess a valid licence to carry or possess arms as more particularly stated in the said section and in consequence almost the sole form of business open to your Petitioners consists in the export trade in con. nection therewith.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND them in a position to meet such licence fee of $1,200 as aforesaid if, imposed.
14-That the result of the closing of your Petitioners' said businesses in this Colony con- sequent upon the imposition of such lisence fee of $1,200 as aforesaid would be to put a practical stop to the business of dealing in Arms in this Colony and would lead to the transfer to the said Colony of Macao of the trade which this Colony enjoys in connection therewith.
15. And lastly that your Petitioners have large stocks ordered trom Europe and partly in course of transit to this Colony and have fur- ther entered into contracts for the sale thereof or of a part thereof and that heavy losses would result to your Petitioners in connection with the foregoing in the event of the closing of their said businesses which would be occasioned by the imposition of such licence fee of $1,20 as aforesaid.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray Your Excellency that the existing annual licence fee for dealers in arms as provided by section X. of Ordinance No. 8 of 95 be not increased and that the proposed fee of $1,200 be not imposed, and further that Your Excel lency may be pleased to take such other action in the premises as to Your Excellency may seem fit and your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray, &c.
Dated this 8th day of July, 189 ).
(Here signatures of ten dealera follow.)
THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON THE KOWLOON DISTURBANCE,
The following despatch from the Secretary of State respecting the recent disturbances in connection with the taking over of the New Territory is published in the Gazette:-
Downing Street, 23rd June, 1899. Sir,I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 107 of the 28th April and its enclosures in which you have given me some further details of the recent disturbances in connection with the taking over of the New Territory.
9. That such export trade is almost wholly 2.-I have read your despatch and enclosure confined to the Portuguese Colony of Macao with interest, and am confirmed in the favour- and to the City of Canton in the Empire of able opinion which I expressed in my despatch China and is in itself rendered difficult and No. 96 of 26th ultimo as to your own action troublesome owing to the provisions of the said and the manner in which you have been sup- Ordinance No. 8 of 1895 and more particularly ported both by civilian officials and by Her Ma- of section 6 thereof which requires that a per-jesty's Naval and Military forces. Without mit from the Captain Superintendent of Police must be obtained by the exporter in respect of each and every shipment made by him and par- ticulars of such shipment given before such permit can be obtained and in addition that in such cases as relate to shipments to places within the jurisdiction of the Emperor of China a further permit must first be obtained from the proper official at such place before the shipient can be made.
That as a result of the general restric- tish out upon the said business the volume thereof is unreasonably curtailed and reduced and the profits derived by your Petitioners therefrom are precarious and small and in the event of the imposition of such licence feb of: $1,200 as aforesaid none of your Peti. tioners would be in a position to pay the same and they would be driven to close their respec- tive businesses in this colony.
11. That should such licence fee be imposed it is the present intention of your Petitioners to remove their respective businesses to the said colony of Macao there to pursue the same.
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12-That your Petitioners respectfully beg to lay before you the conditions under which similiar businesses to their own can be carried on in the said Colony of Macao, where the licence to dealers in Arms amounts to $2.50 per annum, where there are no regulations or restrictions such as are in existence in this Colony, where the retail business is unfettered there being no farm or monopoly in respect of the dealing in Arms, and where no permits save the said licence are required.
13 Thatowing to the conditions under which
colony of Macao and the consequent favourable similar businesses can be carried on in the said terms upon which such businesses are enabled to compete with your Petitioners, they are un- to charge such prices for their goods as would enable them to make a fair and reason- profit in their said businesses and so place
wishing to undervalue in any way the services rendered by others, it is evident to me that much has been due to the energy of Mr. Lock hart, and to his local knowledge.
8.-I have not failed to bring to the notice of the Secretary of State for War and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty the manner in which you have spoken of the services rendered by the Naval and Military forces.
4.I have at the same time to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 105 of the 27th April enclosing a copy of a letter address ed to you by the Secretary to the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce in reference to the recent disturbances.-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant.
J. CHAMBERLAIN.- Governor, Sir H. A. Blake, G.C.M.G.
MR. FRANCIS IMPUGNS BRITISH SOVEREIGNTY IN THE NEW TERRITORY.
[August 5, 1890
of Hongkong, to suffer death by hanging for their said crime.
have been forwarded to.us for publication
The following petition and correspondence To
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2.-That snch conviction and sentence was wholly illegal and unjustifiable, the said towa or village of Un Loong being a place within the New Territory recently leased by the Imperial Chinese Government to Her Majesty the Queen and where the laws of England are not now and never have been in force al
His Excellency Sir HENRY ARTHUR BLAKE, G.C.M.G., Governor and Com- mander-in-Chief of the colony of Hongkong and its dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of
the same.
3.-That the Order-in-Council dated the 20th day of October, 1898, and published in The Hongkong Government Gazette of 8th April, 1899, and the Proclamation of Your Excellency of the 8th day of April, 1899, purporting to give effect to the said Order-in-Council and fixing a date for the provisions of the said Order-in-Conncil to commence to take effect, are null and void and of no effect; in so far as
The Humble Petition of John Joseph Francis, Barrister-at-law, one of Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the Law in and for the Colony of Hongkong. Most respectfully sheweth :- 1.-That at a Special Criminal Sessions of the 29th day of June last past, Tang Tsing Ss and Supreme Court of this Colony holder on the Cheong Ting were convicted of the murder of Tung Cheong on the 18th day of April, 1899, at Un Loong in the Colony of Hongkong, and were on the 5th day of July instant sentenced by His Honour Mr. Goodman, Acting Chief Justice
they direct that from a certain date all Laws and Ordinances then in force in Hongkong shall take effect in the said New Territories.
4.-That in so far as Her Majesty's said Order- in-Council purports to extend to the said New Territories all Laws and Ordinances in force in the Colony of Hongkong from a date to be there- after fixed by Proclamation, the said Order-in- Conncil is ultra vires and of no effect, because such extension of English law to the said New Territories and to the inhabitants thereof is wholly unauthorized by the terms of the Con- vention of the 9th day of June, 1898. made be- tween Her Majesty the Queen and His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China.
5.-'That in and by the said Convention the said New Territories are leased, not coded, to Her Majesty, for a term of 99 years. The said New Territories are therefore still under the territorial sovereignty of the Emperor of China and revert to him at the expiration of the said term of 99 years, and the inhabitants thereof are still Chinese subjects although for some purposes and for a limited period placed under the Government of Her Majesty and of Her Officers.
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6. That it is wholly inconsistent with the terms of the said Convention and with the nature of the transaction thereby evidenced, that, while the territorial sovereignty of the Emperor of China therein is preserved and his reversion in the said territories secured, the laws hitherto prevailing within the said territories should be wholly and entirely abrogated and new laws, both civil and criminal, of a totally different character and based ou wholly other principles, should be introduced and enforced therein for a term of years, and that then the territory and the people should rovert again to the laws of China at the end of the said term. By Chinese law property belongs to and descends in the family as a whole. By English law property belongs to the in- dividual and descends to indivduals. It is in- conceivable that the framers of the convention could have intended to allow, in territory only leased, not ceded, such a who esale alteration of the laws regulating the ownership and descent of property, to operate for a limited period only.
7.That the true intent and meaning of the said Convention is, that the New Territory shall be included within the boundaries of the colony of Hongkong and that the Government thereof shall be administered by the Governor of Hongkong and his officers to the exclusion of all Chinese governors and officers, but that the powers of Government shall be limited to the necessities of defence and protection and shall not be inconsistent with the tenure- held, and that the law to be administered shall leasehold-under which the new territory ja
be Chinese law.
relating to jurisdiction is the fourth :
8. That the only clause in the Convention
the city of Kowloon the Chinese officials now It is at the same time agreed that within
isdiction," &c., &e. Within the remainder of stationed there shall continue to excise jur- the newly leased territory Great Britain shall have sole jurisdiction."
That in the said clause the word “jurisdic tion" is used twice and both times in the same sense, that is, the sense of administering not making the lawS,
necessarily imply the power to make or alter 9.-That the word; "jurisdiction" does not laws. It is far more frequently applied in the more limited sense of administering the law and that the nature of the arrangement made between Her Majesty's Government and
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