GAMBLING IN HONG KONG AND HELIGOLAND.—QUESTION.

HL Deb 03 December 1867 vol 190 cc523-7

LORD TAUNTON

said, he wished to ask two Questions deeply affecting the honour and character of this country. He was induced to do so, because he understood that an ordinance had come home from Hong Kong licensing some gambling houses in the colony. At the time that he held the seals of the Colonial Office a similar ordinance came home, and he felt it his duty to recommend that the sanction of the Crown should not be given. It was reported in the papers that the sanction of the Crown had been given in the present instance; but he had since received information which led him to doubt that such was the case, and the noble Duke (the Duke of Buckingham) probably would have no objection to give their Lordships accurate information upon the subject. At a place nearer home there was reason to believe that a notorious public gambling - house had also been established. Heligoland during the summer was very much resorted to for purposes of health and bathing, especially by the citizens of Hamburg; and these complained that their young men, belonging principally to mercantile houses, were there attracted to the gaming table, to the serious injury of their interests and prospects. It certainly was not creditable to this country that a gambling-house should exist under-British protection so close to our own shores. He remembered that when at the Colonial Office he had sent out peremptory instructions to put an end to the system, and he now heard with some surprise that it was still in existence. He wished to ask the noble Duke, Whether he was prepared to lay upon the table any Papers showing what the facts in these two cases really were?

THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

said, it was quite true that both at Heligoland and Hong Kong gambling-houses existed, and that their existence was an evil to those colonies, and, to some extent, an imputation on our administration. They were no doubt a very great evil, which ought to be put an end to at the earliest possible opportunity. With regard to Heligoland, there was only one gambling-house, but the last renewal of the lease under which the property was held, granted in 1855, would not expire until January, 1871. He had been in communication with the authorities of the Island, and also with the Governor, as to whether the practice could be discontinued earlier; but it was very doubtful whether, under the peculiar arrangements of the colony, that would be possible. Certain funds belonging to the orphans of the Island had really no other security than the income derived from this property, let and used as a gambling-house. Peremptory instructions, however, had been given to the Governor to see that during the current year, and as far as necessary during the remainder of the lease, the revenue received should be applied to no other purpose than to the reduction of the debt charged upon this property, so as to facilitate the abolition, at the earliest moment, of what really might be called one of the institutions of the Island. There would be no objection to lay on the table a copy of the lease, if one existed in this country; and, if not, one could be applied for. With regard to Hong Kong, it was quite true that an ordinance was sent home from the colony in 1866, which provided for the general improvement and for the maintenance of order and cleanliness in the colony. This ordinance contained a clause to the following effect:— And whereas the evils of gambling in the colony are found to be on the increase, notwithstanding the application of the penal laws in force for their prevention, and it is expedient to devise and adopt further measures for the gradual control and ultimate suppression thereof; be it therefore enacted that it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council from time to time to frame and pass such rules, regulations, and conditions as may be deemed expedient for the total suppression, or in the meanwhile for the better limitation and control of gambling in this colony, with power from time to time to alter and amend such rules and regulations or repeal the same or any part thereof. A copy of that ordinance arrived in this country in the latter part of the year 1866, and came under the notice of the noble Earl who was then at the head of the Colonial Office (the Earl of Carnarvon), and, after some considerable investigation, the noble Earl came to the conclusion which was expressed in his despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong, to the following effect:— Looking to the special circumstances and the state of society to be found in the Chinese community at Hong Kong, I am led to the conclusion that the evils arising from this apparently irrepressible vice require and justify exceptional treatment. That despatch of the noble Earl was dated in November of last year. On receiving it the Governor of Hong Kong remonstrated against the limitation proposed, and argued very strongly in favour of a practice which appeared to have been very common in some of the Chinese cities—namely, that of granting Government licences to gambling-houses, not with the view of putting them down, but with the object of obtaining a large revenue from them, and of insuring that no other such houses should be opened. This remonstrance from the Governor came into his (the Duke of Buckingham's) hands almost immediately after he had undertaken the duties of head of the Colonial Office, and he at once proceeded to review the circumstances which had induced the Earl of Carnarvon to give the instructions objected to by the Governor. In the course of his investigations he found that the view taken by the Governor had frequently been put forward by the authorities of Hong Kong. At the time when Lord Stanley and his noble Friend (the Earl of Carnarvon) were at the Colonial Office a long correspondence took place upon this subject, in which it was distinctly announced that Her Majesty's Government could not and would not sanction the raising of revenue from such a source. He further found that under the system hitherto adopted by the police the number of gambling-houses and of those frequenting them had considerably increased instead of diminishing, and that the Government of the colony had found themselves unable to put down the evil. The facility with which the practice was carried on he found to result from the system adopted by the proprietors of the gambling-houses of regularly bribing the police—a system which, of course, had a most demoralizing effect upon that force. After a careful consideration of the whole subject, he had come to the conclusion that the decision arrived at by his noble Predecessor was the right one, and that the first step towards the suppression of these houses was to obtain a full knowledge of them by means of a compulsory registration. Under these circumstances, he informed the Governor that he declined to sanction any departure from the previous instructions, and that any charges that might be made on the registration of the houses should be such as should merely meet the expenses incurred in keeping them under surveillance and the control of the police. In the meanwhile the rumour that it was the intention of the Governor to grant licences had spread through the adjoining towns, and numerous offers were made to the Governor of large sums for the privilege of keeping gaming-houses in Hong Kong. In consequence of the spread of these rumours he (the Duke of Buckingham) had considered it necessary to repeat to the Governor his instructions that no revenues could be permitted to be raised through granting such licences, and that his attention should be directed towards the ultimate suppression of these houses, and not towards drawing a revenue out of them. It appeared that subsequently to the despatch of those instructions a certain number of these houses had been registered, and that considerable fees had been paid by their proprietors; but at the present moment the Government had not received from the Governor a copy of the rules and regulations under which the registration had taken place, neither were they aware of the steps that the Governor had taken in the matter. The object which both he and his noble Predecessor had in view in the instructions they had sent to the Governor of the colony was to secure the ultimate suppression of these gaming-houses, and they never for one moment thought of permitting revenue to be raised by means of licensing such places. There certainly appeared to be an inordinate desire in the colony that the revenues should be raised by any means except that of taxation; but those who advocated such a system would receive no support from Her Majesty's Government. The Governor had intimated his opinion that in a very short period, if stringent means were adopted, the evil of gaming would be extirpated in the island in the same manner that piracy had been put down; but the opinion of Her Majesty's Government was that the spirit of gambling was so innate among the Chinese population that, although it might be greatly mitigated, the evil would not be entirely removed within the time contemplated by the Governor. In conclusion, he had to say that he had no objection whatever to laying the ordinances upon the table of their Lordships' House, but that he could not consent to lay upon the table a Correspondence which was not yet brought to a conclusion.