September 27, 1902.]
the
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CHİNA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
be. As to Pelham House and Waverley Hotel, these were boarding-houses rather than hotels. With regard to the argument that there were already too many lice ces in the City, they were all agreed that there were too many in the East and the West, but there were not too many in this part of the town. It was a very curious thing that the only upholder of the public interest in the matter should be the nearest I censed house, the nearest hotel, which naturally should imagine itself injured to some extent by this license.
Parties having withdrawn, the Court con- sidered the case in private. When parties were re-called,
The CHAIRMAN intimated that the licence had been granted by a majority,
The Court rose.
We understand that out of 29 Justices present. 21 voted for the granting of the licence and 3 against.
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licence should be refused. Certainly, con- tinued Mr. Slade, grant the applicant an adjunct licence, by all manner of means, and be could then carry on the business of a first-class hotel and at the same time save his guests from the sights and sounds which apparently in Hongkong were inseparable from pubic bars. It would be a boon to the Colony to have an hotel where there was no public bar. There was, however, another way in which this botel might reasonably be granted a full licence, and that was by the owners of the hotel transferring the licence of the New Victoria Hotel to the new premises. They were owned by the same proprietors and run nuder the same manage. ment. By adopting this course there would be obviated an increase in
number of public-houses, and if the applicant was ad- verse to working on an adjunct licence alone it would be a very good way out of the difficulty. The Commission which was held here in 1898 examined witnesses at gr. at length and went into the drink question in Hongkong very
THE ZAFIRO" MYSTERY. extensively; and in their report they stated that they thought the number of licensed Regarding the alleged theft of box houses in the Colony was fully sufficient for the containing 850,000 gold from the strong-room needs of the community. The number at that date of this steamship prior to or during her last was 23; it was now 24, and the new hotel would voyage to Manila, the theory is gaining ground make it 25. That was another reason why the in the Colony that the bulion was never meeting should not grant the hotel a public-shipped at all. This has been the positiou honse licence, A body of capable men had taken up from the beginning by the China & considered the qu stion only a few years ago
Manila Ste.mship Company, which has lawyers and come to a deliberate conclusion on the and detectives actively engaged in the probing of the mystery; and until all the details are made clear, the matter to the lay mind must appear as confused and inexplicable as ever, and natural public curiosity can expend itse'f only in the hazarding of conjectures, So far as can be gathered, however, there seems as much ground for the theory that the goll was never shipped on the Zajiro as for the conten. tion that it was actually placed on board and signed for. Altogether, the incident is best described as a mystery, aud its elucidation will be watched with interest.
subject, and as Justices Mr. Slade would ask those present to follow the ruling of that day. With an adjunct licence there was no reason at all why this hotel should not go on and prosper. Other hotels here were conducted on such lines and could make profits for their proprietors→ the Connaught House, for instance--and for the purposes of an hotel, Mr. Slade suggested. nothing more was needed than an adjunct licence. In conclusion, he submitted that. instead of a full public house licence being granted to the hotel, an adjunct licen be allowed, unless, as he said before, the proprietors were willing to transfer the licence of the New Victoria Hotel to the new premises.
Mr. SHARP, in reply, said that the Court must either grant the licence or refuse it. There was no question of imposing conditions upon it.
Mr. SLADE It is the commonest practice at home.
Mr. SHARP-It has been frequently decided that no conditions can be imposed upon an ordinary licence.
Mr. SLADE-It is done every day. A licence is often refused to a man unless he will consent
to do something. If he assents to that, he is granted the licence.
Mr. SHARP contended that the argument was not in accordance with facts. He went on to say that it was far better that licences should be granted to people who had shown themselves disposed and able to do well with them than to strangers. If the new hotel was unexceptionable in i self, on its own merits, it could not possibly be objected to because the proprietor was already success. fully conducting.nother hotel elsewhere Mr. Slade had said that an adjunct licence was enough. They were not asking for an adjunct licence, and such a licence could not be granted under their prescut application.
The CHAIRMAN-I think that is so, Mr. Slade.
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Mr. SLADE-Yes, I agree, your Worship. Mr. SHABP-I would involve a delay during which this hotel would be lying idle.
Mr. SLADE-A delay of not more than 10 days.
Mr. SHARP said that the time that would be lost would not necessarily be as short as that. An adjunct licence was not sufficient for them. A good bar was not an absolute necessity, but it would be a very great convenience, An hotel without a full licence was a most hybrid affair. As to the other hotels to which Mr. Slade had referred, the case of the Connaught House; in the first instance, was peculiar. When the licence was applied for it, the reply made was that there were already two licences within about 30 yards of the premises; besides that, the room for which the licence was asked was
either the Robinson music-shop or the adjoining premises, and the situation of the bar would have been as objectionable as it possibly could
u
On Wednesday afternoon a representative of this paper called on Man Loong, of the At Tee shop in Lee Yuen Lane East, who claims to have shipped the money, and asked him a few pertinent questions. Man Loong was positive that the bullion went on board the Zafiro; he
took it there himself, he said,
"+
People in the Colony are saying that the money never was shipped," he was told.
"Oh, throwing out his hands and shrugging his shoulders. s'pose people talk, I no belp."
c.n
Who took the money on board ?” "I did. I pay first officer or second officer- I no' kuow-an he makes sign chit. He look see seals belong all plopah, then lock box up in safe."
green.
In reply to other questions, Man Loong said he took the box on board at ten o'clock on the morning of the day the ship sailed, which she With the did, he added, at four o'clock. exception of 8500 American silver currency, the money was in uotes-United States " backs"-and the box in which it was secured was, roughly, two feet long and one foot deep. The signed receipt he received in exchange he was not now in possession of, having sent it to Shewap, Tomes & Co., who, he explained, wanted it for the making out of the ship's bill-of-lading. The box was sealed in Man Loong's shop, and
was
Man Loong
never once opened, the first or second officer, as Man Loong has already stated, simply satisfying himself that the seals were intact before locking it up in the safe. then left the ship. He stated in the interview that he had engaged a lawyer in Manila to fight his claim for the restitution of the money.
THE PRESS CENSORSHIP AT MACAO.
237
the Macao Government's attitude toward the We have received the following defence of
Press :-
A new law re the freedom of the Press in Macao has provoked criticism in the Hongkong Press when nevertheless the law is liberal and just, liberal because it guarantees to every one a right freely to express his opinion, just because it punishes those who, forgetting the dignity and honour of others, seek means to offend and insult them with impunity. Entire basis of the Portuguese laws re the freedom of liberty allied to absolute responsibility is the
the Press. The law only affects those who have journalist by converting their papers which so far forgotten the noble profesion of a
should be the direct mouthpiece of public opinion into mere placards which deceive their
We have ecorded the recent disappearance from Singapore of an Italian named i ucchi in the employ of Messrs. Pertile & Co. It was found out later that a cheque of the firm for a sum of $9,360 had been presented and cashed at the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. Lucchi was traced to Penang where he got his money changed into a draft on Marseilles. Information had been wired through however and when the Japanese steamer arrived there he was arrested. The news of the capture was sent to Singapore, and Chief Defective Inspector Perret left for Penang and after seeing the Magistrate was to go on by the mail to Marseilles and bring back the wanderer for trial at Singapore.
readers.
Fortunately in that colony there few foreigners if any who understand Portuguese; consequently few can be aware how low, morally and intellectually, the Portuguese Press has fallen.
at the English Press, which is not personal and The colony of Macao has not taken umbrage
does not publish facts relating to the private life of any individual. The recently published law in no way affects the Englishi japers, which have been freely 'rculated even though there was no term strong enough to express their disapproval of the new law. Criticism is free and the Portuguese Government wishes it to be so, but crime is prohibited and the Government takes measures against it and nothing else. The Por- tuguese papers published in Hongkong do not discuss the important subjects of the colony nor criticise its proceedings; they do not advocate the improvements that the old city so badly requires, because they are not compétent to do Eo, nor do they care; but on the contrary publish calumuy inspiring contempt for the colony of which they declare themselves to be the subjects. At times they eren indirectly incite rebellion. The injured parties know that they en claim justice in courts of your colony, and justice will be done, but at what trouble and expense? The limited salary of a conscientious Portuguese Government official barely suffices for his necessary wants, and he cannot afford to bring an action in Hongkong. These scribblers are aware of this, and take advantage of it or they would not dare insult other indiscriminately.
10
If the Portuguese Press were to follow in the footsteps of the English Press the Macao Go- vernment would not molest it, and, on the contrary. should be proud of it; but unfortu- nately the tendency is in the opposite direction. The Portuguese Press in Hongkong is the shame of its English colleagues. What protects them is that it is not generally known what they do write, or surely the English Press would be the first to censure its erring ways and the indecorous object it presents.
Thus the trouble is established. The new 1. w an important necessity against the abuse, persoual attacks, and moral attitude of the Por- tuguese Press in Hongkong, which was reflect- ing in the order, morals, and peace of the Holy City of Macao. The English Press, which has a different aim and a superior standard of morality, which discusses but does not offend, contests, but does not attack, consequently has not been and will not be affected by the new law.
The law is liberal and adequate to the 20th century because it merely requires that crimes committed through the Press should not be printed. Portugal wishes, like all other nations in questions relating to the Press, the utmost freedom and with that the entire responsibility, Nothing could be more correct, more just, nor coincide better with the ideas of this century.
Dr. Muglisten, in bis Medical Report on the Straits Settlements for 1900, says that the general sanitary condition of the Colony, so far as the Municipalities of Singapore, Penang, and Malacca are concerned, may be considered fairly satisfactory: all have excellent water supplies and conservancy is good. But the public health of the Colony for 1900, taking the death-rate as our guide, was not very good, all the Settle. ments, notably ingapore, showing higher mortality rates than for 1940.
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