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Rh them on 15th September, 1867. The revenue from the licences, distasteful to the Governor himself but an indispensable concomitant of his scheme, had to be segregated, by order of H.M. Government, in a distinct Special Fund, which amounted to $155,000 on 23rd May, 1868, to $221,733 on 28th June, 1869, and to $277,334 on 31st December, 1869. The Government gaming houses were at first open to all except women, but foreigners were not allowed to play. After some time, none but Chinese and Malays were admitted (July 27, 1868). Then it became expedient to exclude Chinese servants, shroffs, cashiers and bill collectors (September 16, 1868). Sir Richard closely watched the returns of crime and honestly believed that his system, of providing a vent for the irrepressible Chinese passion for gambling, was steadily reducing crime in the Colony. Numbers of dangerous characters, long wanted by the police or released from gaol and deported on condition of their never returning to the Colony, were arrested at the gaming houses. He reported (March 6, 1869) that the good results of the licensing system included complete extinction of improper relations between the police and the gambling societies, extraordinary diminution of theft among servants, and effectual aid given by the licensees in apprehending dangerous characters. He also demonstrated by statistics that a general diminution of crime had taken place in the Colony since the opening of the gaming houses.

The first disclosure of this remarkable scheme (July 10, 1867) took the whole Colony by surprise. The few Members of Council, who had been initiated into the secret, had kept the secret faithfully from the public whom they were supposed to represent. Sir Richard reported (July 20, 1867) that the new arrangement had met with the general if not unanimous concurrence of the community, with the exception of 'a few gentlemen of the clerical profession who felt it their duty to protest.' As to the unofficial Members of Council, Sir Richard stated (October 15, 1867) that the testimony of every one of them had from the first been in favour of the measure with the exception of one 28