March 15, 1909.]
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.
A meeting of the Hongkong Legislative Council was held on the 11th inst.in the Council
Chamber.
The following were present: HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, SIR FREDERICK JOHN DEALTRY LUGAED K.C.M.G., C.B,, D.S.O.
H. E. MAJOR-GENERAL R. G. BROADWOOD, C.B., A.D.C., (General Officer Commanding).
Hon. Mr. F. H. MAY, C.M.G., (Colonial Secretary).
Sir HENRY BERKELEY, K.C., (Acting At- torney-General).
Hon. Mr. A. M. THOMSON (Colonial Trea- surer).
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Hon. Mr. W. CHATHAM, C.M.G., (Director of Public Works).
Hou. Mr. E. A. IRVING (Registrar-General), Hon. Mr. F. J. BADELEY, (Capt. Superinten- dent of Police).
Hon. Dr. Ho KAI, M.B., C.M.G. Hon. Mr. WEI YUK, C.M.G. Hon. Mr H. E. POLLOCK, K.C. Hon. Mr. E. A. HEWETT. Hon. Mr. H. A. W. SLADE. Hon. Mr. W. J. GRESSON.
Mr. A. G. M. FLETCHER (Clerk of Councils).
MINUTES.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
PAPERS.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of H.E. the Governor, laid on the table the following papers-Jary List for 1909; Memo- randum regarding the restriction of Opium in Hongkong and in (hina.
FINANCIAL.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY-I have the honour to bring up the report of the Finance "Committee, No. 1, and to move its adoption.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded and the motion was agreed to.
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE REPORT. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY,-I have the honour to lay on the table the report of the Public Works Committee, No. 2 of 1908, on the proposed new Peak tramway, (printed elsewhere) and to move its adoption.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
QUESTIONS'.
The Hon. Mr. POLLOCK asked the following questions standing in his name:
In view of the comparatively small cost of putting up a fixed light, similar to that on Mahwan Island, to indicate the South-eastern entrance to the Capsuimun Pass, will the Government have such a light put up?
Will the Government consider the advisability of making arrangements for the signalling of typhoons, by wireless telegraphy, from one of Pratas groups of islands? Has the Government any information to communicate to the Council upon this subject?
The COLONIAL SECRETARY replied. He said in answer to the first question :-
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. advocating the light which forms the subject of | the Honourable Member's question and another on Tong Ko Island, but advancing no reasons whatever, and enquiry is being made on the subject from the signatories.
In answer to the second question the | COLONIAL SECRETARY said:
The Harbour Mastor advises that a light such as the Honourable Member suggests would be of no practical utility for the following reason: (a) If the weather is thick the light would be of no use, being invisible: and if it is clear there is a perfect leading light in Green Island light, which leads straight through the channel between Mahwan and Lantau. (b) There are no cross currents in the vicinity, so that all the Master of a vessel has to do is to steer his well known course from the anchorage; until Green Island Light gets upon its proper bearing, when he can turn up through the channel, on a well known course, with Green Island light dead astern of him as a check the tidal stream will be either directly with him or directly against him. The finances of the Colony, as the Honourable Member is aware, are not in a condition to admit of expenditure even on minor works unless urgent necessity is shown, and as at present advised the Government con- siders that the most urgently required light (when funds admit) is that on the Channel rocks advocated by the Committee appointed in 1907. I
may inform the Honourable Member that the Harbour Master has received a very widely signed petition from Masters of River Steamers
The Government cannot hold out any hope of being able to make arrangements for the signalling referred to. If the Honourable Member will repeat his question in three or four weeks' time the Governor hopes to be able to make a statement, but, at the present moment, he is unable to do so.
THE OPIUM QUESTION,
HIS EXCELLENCY-Gentlemen, I rise to make a statement on the subject of the opium question, concerning which a paper has been laid on the table to-day, and which I promised the Council to make on as early a date as pos- sible. It was on ay 14th last that the hon. member who at that time represented the Cham- ber of Commerce on this Council asked me several questions with regard to telegrams which had appeared in the local Press announc- ing that His Majesty's Government had stated in Parliament that all opium divans were to be closed forthwith. I read the te- legram which I had received from the Secretary of State and I informed the hon. member that I had sent a long confidential telegram in reply explaining very fully the difficulties which such a course would involve, and asking the Secretary of State to defer any final decision until he had received a despatch from me on the sub- ject. On May 28th the same hon. meinber brought forward a resolution in this Council, and he supported it in a long and able speech in which he criticised the action of His Majesty's Government. The resolution Was supported by all the ил- official members of the Council. I informed them that I would forward a copy of the debate to the Secretary of State, and I said that I had myself confidence that when the Secretary of State received my despatch he would not act in any, precipitate manner, but would take into consideration the difficulties which I pointed out. As soon as I received the telegram on the 7th May, we took steps to ascertain the effect upon the revenue of the Colony if all the divans were at once closed. The Opium Farmer showed great confidence in the fair dealing of the Government and a broad spirit in allowing his private books to be thoroughly examined. This task I confided to Mr. Clementi, who conducted it in an exceedingly able and exhaustive way. I think there are few Europeans in this Colony who would have been-competent to conduct such a task and carry it through in such time and collect such a mass of valuable material as he did (applause), and the Government is very much indebted for the stupendous and exhaustive task which he under- took One result of the examination was to show that the charges which have from time to time been made against the Opium Farmer here of smuggling opium into China have no apparent foundation in fact, and the farmer therefore benefited by his straightforward action in allowing his books to be fully inspected by Government. The further in. vestigation was entrusted to Mr. Hutchison into the conditions and statistics of the divans of the Colony, These investigations were completed in the months of June and July. Early in June I received a copy of the Home Hansard giving a full account of the debate of May 7th, and it was then evident that the Secretary of State had in point. of fact stated that it was the policy of His Majesty's Government that all divans should be forthwith closed. I wrote at once on June 13th to the Secretary of State, urging some delay. I suggested that half the divans should be closed in March 1909, and the remaining half should be closed in March 1910, not till the contract of the Opium Farmer should expire. I pointed out to him that the immediate closure of the diyans would involve the Government in a very heavy claim for compensation, a moral claim if not a legal one for compensation to the Opium Farmer as well as the other divan keepers whose licences I was unable to cancel except for breach of their conditions until they should expire, unless by special legislation. My object was to gain time, for I could not ignore the orders which had been
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communicated to me by the Secretary of State over a month previously. There was a further debate in the House of Commons on July 28th. The Secretary of State had at that time received my despatch of June 13th, and when he pledged His Majesty's Government "to act on the advice they had recently obtained and would obtain from the Governor of Hongkong he supposed I was prepared to recommend that half the number of the divans should be closed in March 1909 and half in March 1910. As a matter of fact, I had never intended to advise that course. My intention had been limited to urging it as a reprieve of the imme- diate abolition to which I did not see my way to give effect. Following the debate in the Home Parliament the Hon. Mr. Stewart on September 24th moved a second resolution in this Council condemning the reasons which had been given by the Under ecretary of State in the House in support of the policy of His Majesty's Government, and in a long and able speech he subjected the policy of the Home Government to very severe criticism. I said in reply that the Under Secretary of State had hoped that the best opinion in Hongkong and the opinion. of the Governor would be found to coincide with the measures proposed. It was on that same day, September 24th, that introduced the Estimates for the year to the Council, and I told hon. members that no provisin had been made in those estimates to meet any ex- penditure as to compensation to the Opinm Fariner or the opium divan keepers, or to meet any decrease in revenue which might re- sult from any measures taken with regard to the Opium Farmer. I did so in the first place because no, finality had been reached in the question, and in the second place because the estimates already showed a deficit of $72,000 and there was no money at my disposal with which to make provision. I added that if, conse- quential on the policy of the Home Government, it should be necessary to make any further taxation, hon. members would have full oppor- tunity of debating the whole question when the proposals for new taxation were laid before the Council. The general position 88 regards the finances of the Colony, as I explained on that occasion were extremely disheartening, owing partly to the large expenditure on the railway, partly to the great loss on exchange, as well as to many other causes. The year 1908 showed a deficit estimated at about 64 lacs, which reduced our reserves from one and a half million to about nine lacs, and we should have had
deficit of nearly five lacs to provide in the current year had it not been for the fortuitous windfall created by taking over the Widows and Orphans Fund amounting to four and a half lacs, which we must regard as a loan to carry us over our difficulties Meantime no action had been taken with regard to closing the divans because on the one hand I was waiting for the Secretary of State to reply to my despatch, and I was also waiting for the reports of Messrs. Clementi and Hutchison, and I desired to have more precise information as to the financial position of the Colony. In the meantime I took the oppor- tunity of very carefully studying the ques tion, and I prepared a memorandum with the object of showing first of all that Hongkong had not been so apathetic and indifferent as it had been represented in the House of Commons by Messrs. Taylor and Johnson; and secondly with a view to representing the "reasoned opinion" which the Under Secretary of State had asked for in his speech in the House. I based the memorandum largely on the reports of Messrs. Clementi and Hutchison regarding the working of the farm and the condition and statistics of the divans. These reports and the financial statistics were available in about the month of August, but the pressure which hon. members know is generally involved in the preparation of the Annual Estimates, to- gether with the work of verification of references in regard to the memorandum, took some little time. It was not until October that I was able to submit the memorandum to the Secretary of State, together with the despatch in which I submitted proposals for giving effect to the policy which His Majesty's Government had announced, I telegraphed on October 23rd asking the Secretary of State to cancel my former
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