440
HONGKONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
HONGKONG GOVERNMENT PAPER CURRENCYT.
Letter from Government:
Colonial Secretary's Office, 5th October, 1909. SIR,With reference to your letter of the Minutes of a Monthly Meeting of the 28th of last June I am directed to transmit foe General Committee of the Hongkong General consideration of your Chamber the enclosed Chamber of Commerce held in the Chamber draft of a Bill entitled in Ordinance to provide Room, St. George's Building, on Monday, for the issue of Government Paper Currency the 8th November, 1909, at 345 pm. Pre- and to inquire whether its provisions are accep- sent:-Hon. Mr. E. A. Hewett (Chairman), table to the Chamber. — I am, &c., Mr. J. R. M. Smith (Vice-Chairman), Hon. Mr. W. J. Gresson, Messrs. A. Babington, J. W. C. Bonnar, John W. Bandow, D. R. Law, E. Shellim, H. A. Siebs, H. E. Tomkins and E. A. M. Williams (Secretary).
MINUTES. ·
The Minutes of the last Monthly Meeting held on the 23rd September, 1909, were Con- firmed.
DRAFT BILL TO ESTABLISH LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS IN THIS COLONY. Letter from the Hon. Mr. W. Rees-Davies
Attorney General's Office, Hongkong, 24th September, 1909. The Hon. Mr. E. A. Hewett,
President of the Chamber of Commerce DEAR SIR. During my absence from the Colony Sir Henry Berkeley drafted a Bill to establish Limited Partnerships here.
The Secretary,
A. M. THOMSON,
Colonial Secretary.
Chamber of Commerce.
WIRELESS TELEGRAPH INSTALLATION
FOR HONGKONG. Letter from Messrs. Keegan and Rosen - crantz :-
Hongkong, October 15th, 1909..
The Honourable
The Chairman of Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong.
[November 22, 1909.
Yokohama and Shanghai in the North and with Singapore on the South.
Upon receipt of a favourable reply to this application we would have the necessary equip ment forwarded here and the station installed without loss of time.
Thanking you in advance for an early con- sideration of our application, we remain, &c.,
KEEGAN AND ROSENCRANTZ. Reply may be addressed to us c/o American Consul-General, Hongkong.
Colonial Secretary's Office. 14 October, 1909. SIR,In reply to your letter of the 6th instant, I am directed to inform you that no special conditions have as yet been prescribed with regard to applications for licences under Ordinance No. 7, of 1903, and I am to sugges, that the best course will be for any intending applicant to forward to this office in writing, full details of his proposed wireless telegraphic installation for the consideration of this Government. Such applications will be subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.-I am, &c.,
F. H. May, Colonial Secretary.
SIR, We have the honour to address your goodself and the gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce on the subject of wireless telegraph installation for the Colony, and to submit, for your consideration and approval, a copy of the The American Vice-Consul-General in Charge. application we are this day tendering to the Colonial Secretary. We also enclose a copy of It introduces with slight local modifications the Wireless Telegraph Act of 1903 and a copy the provisions of the Limited Partnerships Act, of letter under date of the 14th instant, 1907, and its object is explained in the Memoran-addressed to the American Vice-Consul-General dum attached to the draft Bill.
in Charge, by the Colonial Secretary.
I forward herewith a copy of the draft for the consideration of your Chamber, and I shall be pleased to confer with you hereafter on any amendments or suggestions which your Chamber may have to offer on it. Yours faithfully,
W. REES-DAVIES.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
11th November, 1909. SIR, I have now the honour to state, in reply to your letter of 24th September, 1909, covering a Draft Bill to establish. Limited Partnerships in the Colony, that my Committee see nothing objectionable in the draft so courteously submitted to them.
They would, however, appreciate very much an opportunity of considering any views which may have been, or are to be, expressed by the Hongkong Law Society,-I am, &c.,
E. A. M. WILLIAMS,
Secretary.
The Hon. Mr. Rees-Davies,
Acting Chief Justice.
THE BLOWING OF STEAM WHISTLES IN THE HARBOUR.
On this subject the following correspondence was submitted
•
Colonial Secretary's Office,
8th November, 1909. SIR-I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th of last September, and to enclose herewith a copy of a regulation made by His Excellency the Goveror- in-Council on the 4th instant under Section 25 (4) of Ordinance No. 10 of 1899, giving effect to the recommendation made by your Committee.-I am, &c.,
The Secretary,
F. H. MAY, Colonial Secretary.
Chamber of Commerce. No.: 702-Regulation made by the Governor- in-Council under sub-section 4 of section 25 of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1899 (ordinance No. 10 of 1899), this 4th day of November, 1909
Regulation No. 21 under the heading "Steam Whistles" in Table "M" in the Schedule to the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1899, made by the Governor-in-Council on the 4th day of February, 1908, and published in the Govern- ment Gazette on the 20th day of March, 1908, s hereby amended by adding the following
words at the end thereof:--
**
And except for the purpose of giving unne- cessary notice of her approach towards any other vessel, when one prolonged blast of from 4 to 6 seconds' duration shall be sounded,” A reply was sent asking the Colonial Secretary to convey to His Excellency the Governor the thanks of the Committee for so promptly deal ing with so important a question.
Your attention is respectfully directed to the importance of an enterprise such as we propose to the commercial welfare of the Colony and we would earnestly request your support, in the shape of a recommendation to the Government, to grant the licence asked for.
you
Thanking you in advance for interest
any may bestow upon our application, and with assurances. of the highest esteem, we remain, &c.,
Copy.
KEEGAN AND ROSENCRANTZ.
Enclosure.
Hongkong, October 18th, 1909.
The Honourable
The Colonial Secretary,
Hongkong. SIR, We have the honour to address you on the matter of obtaining a licence to establish and use installations for the purpose of wireless telegraphy in the Colony under the conditions, of the Wireless Telegraph Ordinance of 1903. Acting upon the suggestion embodied in your letter of the 14th instant addressed to the American Vice-Consul General in Charge,
make formal
application for a licence to establish and operate a com- mercial wireless telegraph business within the Colony and beyond its limits with per mission to do all things that wireless telegraph companies are legally entitled to do under the Articles of the Berlin Radio-Telegraph Convention and subject to its regulations and the laws of the Colony.
we
now
-
We would expect a licence giving us the sole right to conduct a wireless telegraph business for a period of twenty-five years with the under- standing that the Government would have the right to purchase the business at a valuation at the end of ten years and at the end of the fifteenth, twentieth or twenty-fifth years.
We would agree to receive and transmit Governmental messages without charge and to use every effort in gathering meteorological in- formation for the welfare of the Colony.
We propose to establish installations in Manila, Bangkok and Singapore and are making applications to the Philippine, Siamese and Straits Governments for licences. These in- stallations together with our proposed Hong- kong station would create a first-class wireless service and would enable us to benefit the commercial and shipping interests of this Colony and the other countries mentioned in addition to developing a profitable business for ourselves. Under the terms of our agreement with the United Wireless Telegraph Company we have the sole right to deal in and use their wireless telegraph equipment in the Far East, and we would install in Hongkong at our own expense a station equal in power to their New York station and capable of communication with
The Wireless Telegraphy Ordinance, 1903 provides that:-
The Governor may, whenever he shall deem it expedient to do so, licence the establishment and use within the Colony of installations for the purpose of wireless telegraphy....
No person shall establish or use within the Colony any installation for the purpose of wireless telegraphy unless authorized to do so by a licence under ths Ordinance.
A licence under this Ordinance may be issued subject to such conditions and stipulations as the Governor may from time to time find desirable in the public interest.
It was decided to leave this matter in. abeyance.
GOODS AND PASSENGER TARIFFS OF THE YUNNAN RAILWAY Co. Letter from Government:-
Colonial Secretary's Office,
13rd October, 1909. SIR-I am directed to transmit for the information of your Committee the enclosed tables relating to the Goods Tariff and Passen- ger Tariff charged by the Yunnan Railway Company.
2. The reduction of freight on manufactured goods of French or Indo-Chinese origin (such as Cotton Yarns from the Tonkin Mills) con- veyed from Haiphong to Mengtsze is now $10 per ton, instead of 5 as formerly, and is equivalent to a preference of about 20 per cent. on the ordinary tariff. This reduction is only given when goods are sent by truck-loads of at least five tons.-I am, &c.,
F. H. MAY, Colonial Secretary.
Enclosure.
YUNNAN RAILWAY.—GOODS TARIFF.
By truck-load of five tons with the Company's
liability limited to $100 per ton.
From
To
Goods of French or Indo-Chinese origin
Groceries
Goods of Manufac-provisions
every
tured preserves, descrip- products. liquors,
tion.
etc.
per ton. per ton. per ton. Haiphong-Mongtze $50 40 $40.40 $36.40 53.80 43.40 39.80 Haiphong-Amichou Hanoi ---Mongtze 47.40
37.40 33.40 -Amichou 50.80 40.40 36.80 Hanoi
TIN.
}
From Mongtze to Haiphong $40.40 per ton.
Note:-If the Company's liability only extends to that part of the journey which lies through Tonkin and not to Yunnan, these rates are. 40 cents per top less.
The rates given above are at present subject to a surtax of 10 per cent.
In the above table Mongtze refers to the Pi-che-tchai station for that town.
Miscellaneous goods with no stipulation as to quantity and with full liability of the Company.