No 157.
Hongkong Mag 5.
Reply to your despatch No. 56. I have the honor to state that having communicated with the Attorney General as to the legal powers held for restricting the exportation of ammunition & military stores when intended for illegal purposes, I have received the opinion of which I have the honor to enclose a copy.
Hongkong, from the absence of custom house, the character of its population, & the facilities which it offers for access on all sides, presents peculiar difficulties in the way of efficient interferences.
Under all the circumstances, I believe it will be best to refrain from action, unless any case of a peculiarly aggravated character should present itself.
On the whole, I have reason to think there is a diminution in the exportation of military stores.
I have the honor to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient servant,
(signed) Bowring
In the Earl of Clarendon,
&c. &c. &c.
Extracts from a despatch from the Governor of Hongkong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the subject of preventing the exportation of military stores from Hongkong, with a view to prevent their being used on the prosecution and in furtherance of the war in China.
I have the honor to transmit to Your Lordship the copy of a despatch addressed by the Legislative Council to the Governor on the subject of regulating the export of arms and ammunition, and there can be no doubt that a law of this nature, which appears to be generally stringent in its provisions & therefore better calculated to effect the object in view, would be looked upon as sufficient to meet the difficulty you allude to.
Cape Atheneum, 21st Feb 1857.
Party Paper 1882, p. 210