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# Enclosure S
An Extract from the "She Man Fo" (A Canton Paper.)
A Despatch from Viceroy Chau to the Provincial Treasurer dated the 7th May, 1907.
Taotai Wan Ho of the Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration in Hongkong has made the following representation:-
"Hongkong is the most important port in the East and is the shipping centre for all Chinese and foreign trading vessels. About 70 or 80 per cent of its trade is Chinese, its relations with Canton are always of the closest nature and its Chinese population is estimated to be over 300,000. Some years ago there was a proposal that China should establish a Consulate in Hongkong, but the matter was allowed to be dropped. Now there is of course the Tung Wa Hospital Committee but they cannot interfere with any matters that are not charitable. There is also what is called the Chinese Commercial Union (Wa Sheung Kung Kuk) but it is only a private institution, it is not registered by the Government and it has very little real power. This accounts to a certain extent for the gradual falling off of the Chinese trade.
"Within the last few years it has become common for people when they have large debts to officially declare themselves bankrupt in Hongkong and at the same time secretly make off to Chinese territory with as much property as they can collect together. The law of Hongkong is such that once a man is accepted bankrupt, no further steps are taken to make him pay his debts. If the creditors bring a charge against him in the Chinese Courts, the Chinese Authorities dismiss their claims on the ground that bankruptcy proceedings have already been taken...
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