In order to provide a remedy against the habitual plundering to which goods were subjected in transit between ship and shore, an Ordinance (15 of 1860) was passed for the registration and regulation of the men employed on cargo-boats. As soon as this Ordinance came into force (1861), a general strike ensued on the part of cargo-boat people, but by unflinching firmness on the part of the Governor and the community they were soon brought to submit to registration. The chair coolies also resorted to a strike (in 1863) when they were for the first time to be brought under a system of regulating and licensing public vehicles by Ordinance 6 of 1863. They also yielded, after nearly three months' passive resistance, and the new Ordinance proved a great boon to the public.
An interesting trial (Moss versus Alcock) was concluded in the Supreme Court on 27th December, 1861. A British subject, having assaulted a Japanese officer at Kanagawa, had been sentenced to fine and imprisonment by a British Consul whose sentence was confirmed by Sir Rutherford Alcock, then H.M. Minister at Tokyo. But when the prisoner was lodged in the Hongkong Gaol, he appealed to the Supreme Court and obtained a verdict for $2,000 damages, as the Consul had power only to inflict either a fine or imprisonment. It was in consequence of this case that subsequently (July 10, 1863) letters patent were issued conferring upon the Chief Justice of Hongkong appellate jurisdiction in respect to Consular decisions made in Japan. In the course of the trial (Moss versus Alcock) there occurred (December 12, 1861) the first of those lively but indecorous scenes of bickerings which for years after periodically recurred whenever Mr. (subsequently Sir) John Smale, as Attorney General or Chief Justice, was confronted in Court by the leading barrister of the time (E. H. Pollard). A fruitless attempt was made (April 23, 1859) by Dr. Bridges to induce the Governor in Council to modify Sir J. Bowring's Amalgamation Ordinance (12 of 1858) so as to permit barristers to form partnerships with a view to enable them to recruit health in Europe without breaking up their practice. So far from
