CAB11-57-11 — Page 90

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CHAPTER VI (i).

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IV. By his Excellency, &c.,

Whereas war having been proclaimed between His Most Gracious Majesty the King and a Magistrate or Justice of the Peace will be in attendance at the Supreme Court and at the Magistracy to enrol—

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(a.) Additional members for Artillery and Machine gun Volunteer Corps.

(b.) Volunteers for fire brigade duty.

(c.) Volunteers for Commissariat.

Volunteers for hospital and ambulances will apply at the Government Civil Hospital, or at the Military Hospital, Wellington Barracks.

By command, &c.,

2. He will also give effect to the Order in Council of the 26th October, 1896, which confers upon the Governor full powers to enforce the acquisition of buildings and lands for military purposes, to proclaim military law, to destroy buildings, to impress civil labour, animals, vehicles, food supplies, &c., and to suspend any law, rule, or ordinance which may interfere with the defence of the Colony.

In the performance of many of these duties and responsibilities the Colonial Secretary will find it necessary to consult with various Departments of Government and to secure their active co-operation. He should be kept acquainted with all measures for the public welfare adopted by any individual head of Department, and he shall, if necessary, require any such head of Department or other responsible officer to report in detail the manner in which the duties intrusted to him are being carried out.

3. He will obtain the Governor's signature to the following order :-

Order made by his Excellency

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Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same.

Whereas by sub-clause 13 of clause 3 of the Order of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council, made and dated the 26th day of October, 1896, it is provided as follows:-

For the purpose of determining the amount of any remuneration or compensation payable under this Order, and the prices at which any grain, article of food, coal, or other fuel taken under sub-clause 9 of this Order may be sold to the inhabitants the Governor shall appoint a Board consisting of five persons, of whom one shall be a Judge, two shall be officers either in the service of the Civil Government of this Colony or in Her Majesty's naval or military service, and the other two shall be inhabitants of the Colony;

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And whereas by clause 2 of the same Order in Council it is provided that the words "the Colony' occurring in such Order means any Colony specified in the Schedule thereto and its Dependencies, and the term "Governor" means the person for the time being administering the Government of the Colony;

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And whereas the Colony of Hong Kong is one of the Colonies mentioned in the said Order in Council :

Now, therefore, I,

Governor of the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies, do hereby, in pursuance of the powers vested in me as aforesaid, and of all other powers (if any) enabling me to do so, appoint a Board consisting of five persons, namely,

and

و

for the

purpose of the said Board determining the amount of any remuneration or compensation payable under Her Majesty's Order in Council above referred to, and the prices at which any grain, article of food, coal, or other fuel taken under sub-clause 9 of clause 3 of the said Order in Council may be sold to the inhabitants of the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies.

Made at Government House, Victoria, in the Colony of Hong Kong, this

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(Signed)

day of

Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

4. He will be responsible for the issue of any special orders which the existing state of the food supply of the Colony may render necessary or desirable with regard to the prohibition of export or the restriction of distribution.

Note on the Supply of Food to Civil Population.

It will be important to reduce to a very large extent the number of Chinese residing in the Colony in view of a possible blockade. This will probably effect itself by the voluntary exodus of Chinese which will take place on war being declared.

The exportation of food and other supplies will be prohibited as soon as war is imminent. Hong Kong may be said to be the store-bouse for Canton as regards rice, the staple of Chinese food. It is estimated that there is rice enough in the Colony for the supply of the whole population

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