Sept. 20.
AN instructive address upon the chit system was given last week to members of the Hongkong Legislative Council by the Hon. Mr. A. R. Lowe. The occasion arose out of legislation enacted in 1917, the effect of which was to forbid hotels to accept chits in payment of drinks, although drinks consumed with a meal might be so signed for. It was a piece of legislation introduced by the Governor of the Colony and in some mysterious way connected with the war, but what exactly it had to do with the war nobody seems at all clear about. There it was, however, and even time-honoured clients of hotel bars, men who had never for a moment been behindhand with their payments, were called upon to pay cash for such spirit-nous refreshment as they might consume..At a very early stage the inconvenience of the order both to the hotels and the public became apparent, and the next thing that happened was the appearance of a system of I.0.U.'s. A client of the necessary standing could go to the office attached to the bar, sign an 1.0.U. for the amount of his drink, obtain the necessary money and hand it over the counter. At least that was the theory, although we fancy that the whole process did not have to be gone through on every occasion. This enactment against chits has been in force since 1917, and this month. its continued presence on the statute
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.