A meeting of Council was held on the 3rd inst. It was notable for the facts that Mr. Cooper made his last appearance ther: that Mr. J. Sercombe Smith took his seat} for the first time as Colonial Treasurer, and Mr, Ho Kai resumed his place as though nothing had happened and he hid never tried the experiment of advising the Chinese authorities up north. In connection with the special Gap Rock Lighthouse Dars, Mr. Whitehead, in consideration of the reply of the Secretary of State to the petition on the Light Dues question, asked leave to withdraw a resolution of which he gave notice in December, and gave notice of another asking fur a detailed statement showing the estimated revenue receixbie from all shipping under such head and the estiaiated expenditure which will be chargeable to it in the year 1898. A number of new Bills were introduced, and the Colonial Secretary moved the approval of the by-laws made under section 93 of Ordinance 15 of 1894 dealing with insanitary dwellings. The unofficial members protested against the short notice given of the intention to enforce these bylaws, and asked for further time toconsider them. After some discussion the Governor agreed ty give a week for their consideration, declaring prevention was better than cure, and he could allow no further delay. The Council accordingly adjourned to Monday. The ubject in view passing these by-laws is t" allow of compulsory visits for inspection of insanitary dwellings, the prevalence of plague in neighb.uring ports having awakened the Jorernment to a sense of their responsibil Monday, the 11th inst., the Coun-again met, and after a rather lengthy explanation by the Governorof the reasons for enforcing the by-laws, and a statement that the officers appointed to make domiciliary.
its would be most carefully selected and under his personal supervision, while the utmost tact would need to be used in the inspection, the clauses were considered one by one, setae of them amended, and they were finally approved. In reply to a question by Mr. Whitehead asking the Governm: nt to lay on the table a detailed statement showing both the revenue derived from shipping and the amount of expenditure chargeable to it, the Colonial Secretary said instructions had already been given to prepare such return and it would, when ready, be laid on the table. H.E. the Governor, in reply to a question asked by Mr. Whi in December last, if the Gover would appoint a commission to investigate and report on the opium revenue generally, and upon the advisability or otherwise of substituting for the present Opium Farm bond d warehouses and a fixed duty on all opium not bund side exported in a raw state, said he had given the matter his careful consideration, and he did not intend to appoint " commission for the above purpose. This is " wise decision. The present system has its disadvantages, no doubt, but I utterly fail to discover where the advantage of bonded warehouses would come in. How about the freedom of the port then
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.