370
Foreigners on board British vessels at Hongkong...
Some 60 British seagoing steamers owned and/or managed in Hongkong and of China, there are not more than five or six under charge of masters who are not British; and, of the steamers otherwise commanded, Captain Thomeett always in his letter of the 13th September, it may be pointed out that the steamers with German Captains are managed by a German firm, while the others are Chinese owned, and Natives naturally seek the cheapest labor. The percentage of foreign officers is equally small, while Engineers are almost all British.
Serving information to their own Government. The complaint that German Officers give particulars to their Authorities of the cargoes carried by the British steamers is not, even if founded, a matter that needs to be considered for a moment. Anyone in the shipping business here can, with a little trouble, ascertain the very description of cargoes carried by most of the steamers trading between Hongkong and ports in China, Japan, Saigon, the Strait Settlement, the Philippines, etc., including size and tonnage of the ship, class of goods carried, manner of packing, estimated cost of running and profit.
The German Authorities do not need to go to Masters or Officers of Steamers for these particulars. There are at least half a dozen German firms in this Colony, all with intimate knowledge of shipping matters, who could in half an hour furnish accurate and reliable information on all these points than the German shippers on the coast put together. In fact, the ignorance of these subjects displayed by the framers of the motion, of which the above heading is a part, is borne on its face.