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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
are
(December 11, 1909.
doing so he said-This Bill amends section 12 are to be done away with. The terms of the said of the Squatters' Ordinance In certain recognizance are (1) To observe the conditions of the licence; (2) To observe the requirements cases squatters' claims have been allowed
been deemed of the Ordinance. Omissions of both of by the Board, but it has
withhold the leases desirable to
until these offences against the Ordinance sanitary buildings have been constructed, by section 37 of the Transfer Ordinance: are to be divided into and it is now proposed to give the Director of Adjunct licences Public Works the alternative power of arrang-two classes, hotelkeepers' adjunct licences ing for the grant of new sites in exchange for and restaurant-keepers' adjunct licences. Whole- the original buildings. If the arrangement is sale and grocers' licences are abolished, and effected, the amount of compensation is to be there is established a dealer's licence. Section 3, prohibits the sale and importation of liquor on assessed by the Director of Public Works.
commission without a licence. The section which is new is introduced with a view of protect- Council then went into Committee, and aftering the trade. The conditions of a publican's considering the Bill clause by clause resumed.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
EXEMPTION F CROWN LEASES.
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their responsibility to the community. One of the most important functions performed here by business men is
on the jury. The question has not been rushed through those who at
moment's notice, as care to inquire into the matter have known for months past that leading bodies and associations here have been asked by the Government to express their views on the subject. I can say that there is no body of men whose time is more valuable than the committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and that committee as well as the British members are unanimously in favour of this change of law for reasons I do not feel called upon to go into
licence, and of the two forms of adjunct licence, now, but which I think are very thoroughly
appear in the Bill.. The Liquor Licences understood. In certain matters the English law should not be rigidly adhered to. This The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the first Amendment Ordinance, of 1902, is repealed, and a new scale of fees is set out in the second. Bill has not only the unanimous support of reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to
Section 8 of the the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce exempt Crown Leases granted in respect ol schedule to this Bill. and a large number of the British members, but Foreshore and submerged land in the New Liquor Licences Extension Ordinance, 1908, which enacts that the expenses of advertising I am told that it has almost the unanimous Territories from a certain condition imposed un- support of the legal profession. It seems to me der the Foreshores and Seabed Ordinance, 1901,"applications for licences should be paid by the that when a considerable number of people In doing so he said-The Foreshore and applicant is repealed. The applicant is required representing the Chamber of Commerce and the Seabed Ordinance, 1901, requires the Crown to pay for the advertisements by section 5 sub. legal profession are in favour of the Bill that it leases proposed to be granted in respect of section 13 of the Bill. should be accepted and when only two judges foreshores or seabed should inter alia be pub- are provided for the Full Court in Hongkong,lished in the Gazette for one month. The Bill it is obvious we cannot in every
proposes to dispense with this condition as accept the law as applied at Home. I trust regards the New Territories, where the Gazette that the opposition which has been raised to is seldom seen and the cost is deemed unnecessary. this Bill by the hou, member on my right will The other conditions of the Foreshores and not present the Bill from being carried through Seabed Ordinance, 1891, requiring the publica- its second reading this afternoon, as the matter tion in Chinese of the terms of such lease by is of great importance to the commercial pros-publicly posting them near the site of the perity of the Colony.
property are not affected by the Bill.
case
Hon. Mr. OSBORNE-Sir, neither did I in- tend to speak on this Bill, because it had But it has a historical escaped my attention.
and a personal interest to me in that I was the foreman of the jury that represented to Sir John Carrington the great hardship entailed upon busy men of this community sitting very often for many days listening to arguments of counsel on points of law and deciding evidence which could much better be settled by the judge. The alteration in the law was made in consequence of representations which the jury then made to Sir John Carrington, who pro- mised that he would represent to Government the hardships that were entailed, and he also advised us to hold a public meeting to pro- test. Shortly afterwards one of the most widely-attended public meetings was held in the City Hall protesting against the waste of time entailed upon busy men in this Colony sitting in Court for days listening to points of law and deciding questions which could be better decided by the judge. The particular case which we had the misfortune to try and to sit for several days over was a trade mark case on condensed milk, a squabble between rival merchants, Another instance which led to the alteration of the law was a case in which a jury was empanelled-I was one-and we sat, I think, a whole morning listening to a point of law being argued between two learned counsel. We then suggested to the judge that perhaps he would allow us to retire until the learned counsel had decided what the law was. (Laughter.) The learned judge was kind enough to allow us to retire, and we have never met since. (Laughter.) Now, sir, those are the kind of things which irritate the community. (Hon. Mr. Stewart-Hear, hear.) It is not a question of shirking one's duty-(hear, hear)-and no Britisher in the Colony has the slightest desire to shirk his duty in a criminal case. (Hear. hear.) But I think that every Britisher and everyone else distinctly objects to wasting his time over these trivial matters. If this Bill, sir, is passed, I prophesy that within a short period another public meeting will be held and your Excellency will be asked again to amend the law because the community is far too busy to have its time taken up in decids ing trade mark cases. I have much pleasure in supporting the hon. member on my right in opposing this Bill, and I hope your Excellency will not endeavour to pass it through its third reading, so that the public may have an oppor- tunity of considering the measure.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL-Your Excellency, it is not proposed to go further with this Bill.
'SQUATTERS' ORDINANCE AMENDMENT. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading of a Bill entitled Au Ordinance to amend the Squatters' Ordinance, 1890." In
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The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Council then went into Committee and con- sidered the Bill clause by clause.
Ou resuming,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the third reading of the Bill.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, the Bill was read a third time and passed.
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY ORDINANCE AMENDMENT..
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The COLONIAL SECRETARY Seconded,
Gentlemen, HIS EXCELLENCY
abolishes testing before the Council method of granting licences for publicans, and for adjunct licencees, and it substitútes it a Licensing Board consisting of for
and partly seven Justices partly elected nominated, and with a considerable unofficial majority. The object of this Bill has been stated by the hon. the Attorney-General, it appears in the minute at the foot of the Bill, and it was dealt with at greater length was laid before this paper which Council at our last meeting. Its object is that a body may be instituted who may have a permanent policy-a policy which can be carried into operation by successive instalments, and if so desired, all making for a definite objective. This Bill is in substitution for a Bill which has been before the Council for some considerable time. In that Bill the permanent body proposed was the Governor-in-Council, but that proposal I understand was not acceptable, and, therefore, the present Bill has been substituted for it. The object which we have in view in establishing a permanent board is twofold. hand it is desired to secure to the taxpayers of this Colony the monopoly value of the public- ans' and adjunct licences and to prevent
as being claimed that public asset right by the holders of the licence by declaring, for instance, a period at which any or all
may
be terminated without compensation The ATTOREY-GENERAL moved the third In the second place it is desired by this method to facilitate public house reform. For instance, reading of the Bill.
if it should be feasible to place some or all of the public houses under a trust company whose profits would be limited and any profits from the business, in excess of those should be devoted to the improvement of the public house, that the manager should be placed
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The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Wireless Telegraphy Ordinance, 1933, and the Wireless Telegraphy Ordinance 1909." In doing so he said This Ordinance provides penalties for the violation of the Ordinances relating to wireless telegraphy.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
Council then went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
On resuming,
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
ORDER AND CLEANLINESS ORDINANCE. The ATTORNEY-GFNER \L, moved the second reading of a Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Order and Cleanliness Ordinance,
1867."
on In doing so he said-Under a Govern ment notification made under section 3 of Ordinance 8, of 1887, a fee of $10 has been charg ed for licences to money-changers, whereas this part of that Ordinance does not apply to the New Territories, and a fee of $5 should have been charged under section 3 of Ordinance 7, of 1867. The Bill proposes to increase tlie charge imposed under the last named Ordinance to $10 and to legalise the collections heretofore
made.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the notion was agreed to.
Council then went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
Ou resuming,
On the one
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a fixed salary so that he should have no personal interest in promoting the sale of liquor. These, however, are only possible projects for the future and do not arise at present. The object of the Bill is to create a permanent board to deal with the question of licensing. The present system by which licences are issued by the general body of the Justices of the Peace cannot be said to have worked very well in the past. I find that 176 Justices of the Peace in the last ten years have never attended. The total number of Justices of the Peace is 239. The attendances in the last ten years number 117,which gives an average of half an attend- auce a year, or, in other words, one attendance in every two years. The other provisions of the The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved that the Bill have already been touched upon by my hon. Bill be read a third time,
friend the Attorney-General. Adjunct licences it is proposed to divide into two classes, one for hotel-keepers and one for restaurant-keepers. Various restrictions are placed upon them which partly appear in the body of the Bill and partly in the forms attached, and it is hoped by these restrictions that the abuses which are alleged to have existed under the present system will be abolished. Wholesale and grocers' licences also will be abolished, and a dealer's licence will be substituted prohibiting sales by commission in order to protect the interests of licencees. The right to appeal against the decision of the Licensing Board is also inluded in the Bill
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed. LIQUOR LICENCES ORDINANCES' AMENDMENT.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading of a new Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Liquor Licence Ordinance, 1898, and the Liquor Licences Extension Ordinance, 1908. and to repeal the Liquor Licences' Amendment Ordinance, 1902." In doing so he said- The principal feature of this Bill is to transfer from the Justices as a body to a Licensing Board consisting of seven Justices, the control of publicans and adjunct licences. Recognizances
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