by the insertion of a provision empowering the Governor to employ some other medical practitioner besides the principal Civil Medical Officer as one of the two doctors on whose certificates alone a leper can be removed to the asylum.

2. STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

[Contributed by WALTER J. NAPIER, ESQ.]

Ordinances passed-37.

Education: School Attendance (No. 1).-The School Attendance Ordinance, 1902, provides for the compulsory attendance of children at school for instruction in their own language. It applies to such districts as are proclaimed by the Governor in Council, and renders regular attendance compulsory on male children between such ages (not less than seven or higher than fourteen) as shall be fixed from time to time by the same authority. "Regular attendance" is to mean attendance for not less than 50 per cent. of the school days in each month.

The following are (amongst others not defined) reasonable excuses exempting a child from regular attendance :—

(i) That there is no school where a free education in the child's own language is provided by the Government within a distance of one and a half miles from his residence ;

(ii) That the child is attending aschool where the English language is taught ;

(iii) That the child has passed the highest standard in a Government vernacular school, or in a school receiving a grant in aid from Government; and

(iv) That the child has been prevented from attending school by sickness or any other unavoidable cause.

This Ordinance marks a new departure in legislation, and is an attempt to grapple with a very difficult question. To understand its scope, it is necessary to have in mind some facts relating to the population of the Colony, and the education given in it. At the census of 1901 the total population was computed at 572,249, composed of very divers races; thus, out of every 10,000, 88 were Europeans and Americans, 134 Eurasians, 4,927 Chinese, 3,758 Malays and other natives of the Archipelago, 999 Tamils and other natives of India, and 94 "other nationalities."

There are a number of Government and Government-aided English schools in the Colony, but there is practically no provision by Government for any vernacular teaching except in the Malay language, and for this the Government maintain over 140 schools. The Ordinance will, then, be confined in its operation, for the present at any rate, to the Malays. As a start, the Ordinance was enforced in the agricultural territory of Malacca, and has been

pronounced such a success that it is proposed shortly to introduce it into Province Wellesley. At present it is not proposed to introduce it into towns.

Trust Funds (No. 2).—An Ordinance to facilitate the investment of trust and other funds in the United Kingdom in Straits Settlements Government securities was passed, on the instructions of the Secretary of State, to enable the Colony to be in a position to take advantage of the provisions of the Colonial Stock Act, 1900. At present there are no Government securities in the market, the Colony being in the happy state of having no debt, except a small loan from the Federated Malay States.

Women and Girls' Protection.-No. 3 amends the Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance, 1896.

Land. No. 4 amends the Acquisition of Land for Public Purposes Ordinance, 1890, in several particulars.

Payment of Salaries in Sterling (No. 6).-Payment of Government officials in sterling having been partially introduced, this Ordinance amends the Widows' and Orphans' Pension Fund Ordinance, 1901, to make it apply to officials paid in sterling.

Stolen Property.-No. 7 amends Indian Act XIII. of 1856 by extending its provisions for punishment of a person having in his possession property which may be reasonably suspected of being stolen or fraudulently obtained, and who fails to account satisfactorily how he came by the same, to a person having possession in a house, building, ship, vessel, or other place. This legislation was rendered necessary through a decision of the Court of Appeal that the Indian Act only applied to possession in a street or public place. The Ordinance provides for heavier penalties than those stated in the Indian Act, and gives a right of search.

Jurisdiction.-No. 8 extends the jurisdiction of the Court of Requests from $50 to $100, and makes some amendments in its procedure.

Tramways.-No. 10 authorises the construction of tramways in the settlement of Singapore by a company, who are to pay to the Municipal Commissioners a royalty of 5 per cent. per annum of the net profits of the undertaking for the first thirty-five years, and of 15 per cent. per annum after that time, until the tramways are purchased by the Municipal Commissioners under the powers contained in the Ordinance.

Married Women.-No. II introduces the Married Women's Property Act, 1882, as amended by that of 1893, into the Colony. It applies to all "married women," which expression is by s. 16 to include any woman married in accordance with her "religion, manners, or customs," with the exception of Mohammedans, who are dealt with by the Mohammedan Marriage Ordinance,

1880.

Penal Code.-Nos. 12 and 35 have for their object the amendment of the Penal Code. This Code, which became law in 1871, was taken from the Indian Penal Code, and the object of the Ordinance is chiefly directed to the incorporation of provisions of Indian Acts X. of 1886, I. of 1889, III.

of 1894, and III. of 1895, so as to bring the Code into line with the present Indian Penal Code.

Foreshore.-No. 13 amends the Foreshores and Sea Bed Ordinance, 1900 (so entitled, but passed in 1901); it provides that in special cases, with the approval of the Secretary of State, leases of the foreshore and sea bed may be for a longer term than a hundred years.

Cruelty to Animals.-No. 14 is for the prevention of cruelty to animals. It is very wide in its scope, "animal" being defined as any bird, beast, fish, reptile, or insect, whether wild or tame. Besides the ordinary penal sections directed against cruelty, causing animals to fight, and employing animals unfit for labour, the Ordinance gives power to the Government and the municipalities to establish infirmaries for the treatment of animals, and an infirmary is being built at the present time in Singapore.

Prevention of Crime.-No. 16 enables the Governor in Council to employ special means for the prevention of crime in particular districts in the Colony. In a proclaimed district any person found between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. not carrying a lighted lantern, or loitering in the streets or on private property, and unable to give a satisfactory account of himself, is subject to a fine or imprisonment, or to both. The Ordinance, which owed its existence to a long series of burglaries in Singapore culminating in an atrocious murder of a European resident, has never been brought into force, crime having, through the efforts of the police, resumed its normal state.

Railways. No. 18 enables the Governor to lease or demise the Singapore and Kranji Railway. No lease has been, nor will in all probability be, made, and the line is being worked as a Government railway.

Chinese Immigrants.-No. 19, which consolidates and amends the law for the protection of Chinese immigrants, deserves more than a passing notice. The main object of the Ordinance is to enable the Protector of Chinese (an officer first appointed in 1877) to superintend Chinese immigration and to see that coolies who are brought down from China for labour at the expense of other persons are protected. Of the 207,156 Chinese immigrants who arrived in Singapore last year, 184,611 had paid their own passage-money, while the remainder had been brought down by recruiters, who pay the passage and expenses of the immigrant, in some cases giving him a small advance as well, on condition that the coolie ultimately works off by his labour the expenses so incurred.

The plan of the Ordinance is as follows: To ensure proper treatment of the passenger and sanitation of the ship, every ship importing more than twenty immigrants has to carry a qualified medical practitioner and to obtain a certificate from a proper officer that the ship was properly equipped and manned for the voyage (s. 33).

The agent of the ship is to give notice of the probable date of arrival, and of the number of immigrants to be landed, to the Protector of Chinese

(s. 7 [1]). On arrival the ship is to give the appropriate signal when she is boarded by an officer of the Protectorate who makes enquiries from the captain for the purpose of the Ordinance and of the Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance, 1896 (s. 8); and no person is allowed to board the ship until the Protector has disembarked the immigrants (s. 9). The immigrants are taken from the ship to a depôt called the Examination Depôt, and there examined as to the payment of their passage-money and as to advances, and as to any agreement to repay such passage-money and advances, or any contract to labour entered into or proposed to be entered into by them, and as to their ages and fitness to labour, and as to any other matters necessary for the Ordinance or for the Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance, 1896 (s. 10). There are penalties for non-attendance at the Examination Depôt (s. 12), and provisions for search (s. 11).

Every immigrant who upon examination is found not to be indebted for his passage-money or advances is allowed to leave the Examination Depôt (s. 13), but immigrants indebted for passage-money or advances, if fit for labour, are detained for a period not to exceed ten days in licensed detention depôts until they have made arrangements satisfactory to the Protector for the payment of their debts (s. 15).

An immigrant detained under s. 15 may be dealt with as follows:(a) If under sixteen or over forty-five, he may be sent back to China (s. 16 [2]).

(b) If he has been brought to the Colony by fraud or by misrepresenta

tion as to his work or wages, the Protector may release him or treat him as permanently unfit for labour in the Colony (s. 14). (c) If he promised to find on his arrival some person to repay his passage-money and he is unable to find such a person without entering into a contract to labour, and is unwilling to enter into such contract, he may be released or sent back to China at the expense of his creditor (s. 21).

(d) If he promised to enter into a contract to labour on arrival within the Colony, and he refuses without reasonable cause to enter into such a contract, he is liable to fine or imprisonment; and if he finally persists in such refusal, he may be sent back to China (s. 22).

(e) If he promised to enter into a contract to labour in any specified kind of work, then (1) if he is declared upon medical examination unfit for such work, he may at the Protector's discretion be sent back to China, enter into a contract for such other labour as he is fit to perform, or be released (s. 23); or (2) if the person bringing him be unable to find such employment, he may at the Protector's discretion be released or sent back to China (s. 24). An immigrant unfit for labour may be ordered to a hospital and detained there at the expense of his creditor until he is fit for labour; and

if he is found to be permanently unfit, he is sent back to China at the expense of his creditor (s. 16).

SS. 17, 18, and 19 are penal provisions to ensure the immigrant being removed to and being detained in hospital or depôt.

SS. 28, 29, and 30 provide that every contract entered into by an immigrant is to be in writing, and explained to the immigrant by an officer of the Chinese Protectorate, and to impose safeguards on the immigrant with regard to the contract. Under s. 32 every immigrant under a contract for service for a definite period can determine the contract on giving one month's notice, and on payment of all advances and a sum of $25 as "smart money." In case of ill-usage of an immigrant by his employer, the contract may be cancelled by a police court (s. 31).

The penalty for actual or attempted importation of any Chinese immigrant contrary to the provisions of s. 33 is a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or both, and the ship used in such importation may be forfeited.

Partition (No. 20).—The Partition Ordinance introduces the Partition Acts of 1868 and 1876.

Savings Banks.-No. 21 amends the Savings Bank Ordinance, 1879, by introducing a clause limiting the responsibility of the Bank in case of fraud. This Ordinance evoked considerable opposition from the unofficial members of the Council.

Copyright Telegrams (No. 22).-The Telegram Copyright Ordinance is taken mutatis mutandis from an Ordinance of the same character in Ceylon, the Telegram Copyright Ordinance, 1898.

Mortgagees' Profit Costs.-No. 23 introduces into the Colony the Mortgagees' Legal Costs Act, 1895.

Military Manoeuvres.-No. 31, which is entitled the Military Manoeuvres Ordinance, 1902, is put forward for the purpose of enabling His Majesty's forces in the Colony "to obtain that training in field movements over all sorts of ground and in the construction of modern field entrenchments which has been shown by the war in South Africa to be absolutely essential where military efficiency is desired." Persons engaged in manoeuvres (of which, if the troops engaged are over five hundred in number, one month's notice is to be given) have power to pass over and encamp and construct military works not of a permanent character and execute military manœuvres upon any land, but provision is made against entry of dwelling-houses, places of worship, schools, factories, or stores, or land attached to any place of worship or school or enclosed within the curtilage of any dwelling-house. Penal provisions are contained to prevent interference with the manœuvres, and provisions are made for compensation for damage.

Surveyors. No. 37 provides for the licensing of persons practising as surveyors in the Colony. This Ordinance is adapted from Part I. of the Ceylon Ordinance No. 15 of 1889, and prevents any person practising as