401
3.
In the meantime certain amendments
in the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1899, had been put for-
-ward which appeared to me to be both desirable and neces-
-sary, and I decided to combine these with the proposed
Junks' Ordinance in one Ordinance amending the principal
Ordinance of 1899.
4.
The Bill forwarded in Mr. May's
above quoted Despatch and modified in accordance with the
suggestions of the Board of Trade are embodied in Sections
2,5 and 11 of the present Ordinance.
5.
In Sections 3 and 4, which are in
substitution for the Small Ships Exemption Ordinance, 1903,
(No. 18 of 1903), a satisfactory solution will, I hope, be
found of the difficulty which has hitherto existed with
regard to the use of the British Flag by the smaller ves-
-sels engaged in the Macao and West River Trade.
Under the principal Ordinance it
was not possible for the owners of steam-launches and other
vessels of small size to obtain a Certificate of Colonial
Registry, and with it the right to fly the British Flag,
as the profits earned by their vessels were not sufficient
to justify the expense of engaging properly certificated
European Officers. These vessels were accordingly placed
in