3
7. The burden of 1925 therefore rested very largely on the Dominions and such Colonies and Protectorates as were represented. It must be confessed that 1924 had not been without its disappointments: which were felt most keenly by the Dominions. The Exhibition Authorities (not to be too closely identified with the Government) had their own view of the Exhibition, and their efforts were largely directed to reducing the prob- able calls on the guarantors by increasing the gate receipts and using to the full all opportunities for making direct revenue: the Dominions-and the Colonies-had not participated in any hope of a direct or an immediate return. This divergence of view left the highly qualified Trade Commissioners to blaze their own track: and it was well into the 1924 Season before it was realised that they were expected to take action for them- selves, if action was to be taken at all. It was little use waiting at the Exhibition Offices for individual enquiries to be made: something larger was required in the way of organised discussion with representative bodies of trading interests and this the Trade Commis- sioners had to organise in all its details, and it was late in 1924 before their efforts began to show results. These were however sufficiently encouraging to justify them in deciding to make a further year's use of the large capital already involved, the experience of 1924 being the guarantee that it would be used to its full advantage.
1925 therefore started on an entirely new footing: the Dominions took a much more important place: and the efforts of their representatives were directed towards making a fuller use of the broader possibilities of the Exhibition. And the results they hoped for are it would seem by way of being realised: the encouragement of Empire Settlement especially owed a good deal to Wembley 1925, and much good quiet work was completed for which the altered atmosphere of the second year was necessary.
An
8. But the conditions as affecting Hong Kong individually were peculiarly unfor- tunate: and they were focussed on the troubles in China. It is true however to say that the Colony had no expectation of any immediate visible return for its money: and that a patriotic desire to claim its place as a "member of the family" was the deciding factor when the principle of participation was originally accepted. In 1925 there was less immediate reason than ever for the Colony to be represented: but with the British Isles doing so little, as already explained, the enterprise of the Dominions required support. The extension to 1925 secured the backing of the British Government and its blessing, but India, Burma, some large and a number of smaller colonies, still dropped out. effort was therefore called for to hold the rest together if only by way of justifying the retention of the title of British Empire Exhibition. Hong Kong fell into line: for the coming events of 1925 had not yet cast their shadow on the Colony. The decision to participate was a desire to take our share in supporting the one great advertising and propaganda effort the Empire as a whole has ever made: and it remains to be seen whether that effort was justified. It is too early yet for the cause to have had its full effect: but utterances of Ministers in England and the Dominions show a confidence that the broader Imperial objects were attained and Hong Kong had no narrower motive. The British Empire Exhibition provided "a solid foundation for the Imperial Building that had throughout formed its central idea": and the proper use of this foundation has yet to be made.
9. The Hong Kong Committee, which was a Joint Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was constituted as follows:-
The late Mr. P. H. Holyoak (Chairman),
Hon. Sir Shou Son Chow, Kt.,
Sir Robert Ho Tung, Kt.,
Hon. Mr. R. H. Kotewall, C.M.G., LL.D.,
Mr. E. Cock,
Mr. W. Nicholson, and
Mr. T. N. Chau and the late
Mr. D. K. Blair (later Mr. M. F. Key), (Joint Hon: Secretaries),
and under Mr. Holyoak's enthusiastic leadership did much heavy work in all the preliminary organisation. The accuracy of the estimates, and the smoothness with which all detail in Hong Kong ran after the British Empire Exhibition opened is evidence of their thoroughness. The Chinese Chamber, in addition to the Joint Committee,