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as a whole was bitterly critical of the Hongkong Government, and it strongly opposed any suggestion that Government officials should dominate the camp. Mr. Gimson, however, took the view that the Hongkong Government had not ceased to exist, that its authority continued in so far as circumstances permitted, and that, as a matter of practical politics, it was essential that this position be maintained for disciplinary and other purposes unless Japanese intervention was to be constantly invoked. He realised, however, that it was neither possible nor desirable to take a high hand in the matter, and decided to work in with the Communal Councils and trust to time to calm feelings and produce a modus vivendi. He was so far successful that a day or two before we left the camp a resolution asking him to accept the Chairmanship of a reconstituted Council was signed by 1,300 British internees, and the existing British Council tendered its resignation to enable the change to take place. It was clear from this that there was no hostility to Mr. Gimson personally, but the stubborn determination to prevent the "old gang" from getting in and "bossing" things remained undiminished, and it was tacitly agreed that Mr. Gimson's assumption of the Chairmanship would not involve the placing in executive positions in the camp of the senior Cadet officers.
One of the rather curious consequences of the "continuing jurisdiction" theory is that the Police Courts continued to function, though of course on a very limited scale. Persons were tried and sentenced by the Magistrate for theft. The Chief Justice even declared his readiness to hear certain classes of civil actions, and he did in fact make a decree nisi in divorce proceedings begun before the Japanese occupation,
It will be noticed that the Japanese interfered actively very little in the internal affairs of the camp. However, they interfered negatively to a great extent, by insisting that nothing was to be changed without their consent, and by refusing to give their consent even in quite trivial matters. They themselves kept aloof. I made repeated written representations about the status of myself and the rest of our Embassy and Consular party and asked for interviews, but received no replies, and it was not until July 20th, when I was about to leave the camp, that I was able to exchange a few words with Mr. Nakazawa, the camp superintendent. Mr. Ohda, the Chief of the Foreign Affairs Section of the Hongkong Military Government, remained quite unapproachable.
s.s. "Narkunda"
September 19th, 1942.