and
Dare
323
framework to which the constitution of any kind of Company can conveniently be fitted -
In the case of the Hong Kong Gas Company so constituted the conditions under which it is to commence & carry on its operations become obviously matter of arrangement, after the Company is formed, between the Company and the local authorities or other parties with whom it has to deal, quite apart from the internal constitution by which the relations of the Shareholders to the Company and to each other are governed. It is with the latter alone that this Office has to deal, and it is with regard to it only that my official Experience enables me to offer any available suggestion.
If the purpose which the Colonial Government has in view will be satisfied by obtaining such provisions as, if adopted, will form a well-constituted Company without reference to the nature of its business, or to the conditions under which its operations are to be conducted I think those which I now send are as good as can be found.
If on the other hand the Colonial Government desires to be informed as to the conditions under which the authorities of a town or district usually sanction the operations of a Gas Company within their bounds (whether embodied in the constitution of the Company or made matter of arrangement after the Company is formed) that information will not be found in the Copy I transmit, and I regret that I have not