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brief statement of the facts is necessary in order to hang on to it so much of the evidence as inust be examined in considering the questions raised by this motion.
A certain sugar firm, the Cheong Loong, composed of two partners Woo Yiu Nam and Leung Tsin Pang, were in business in Hongkong and had dealings with Messrs. Reuter, Brockelmann, the defendants' branch house in the Colony. At the time immediately preceding the occurrences which led to this suit, the Cheong Loong had contracted to pur- chase sugar to the extent of about $50,000, in three contracts. Delivery had been taken of a certain amount of the sugar, and $5,000 had been paid on account, but a con- siderable quantity, 4,000 bags, had not been taken, and consequently remained in godown. On the construction of the contracts, I have no doubt that the property in this sugar had not passed to the Cheong Loong, but remained with Reuter, Brockelmann & Co.; that their right was to sell the sugar speedily and obtain the best price they could, and to prove in the bankruptcy of the firm for the difference- whereon they would have received the small dividend of $3.50°. I have no doubt further, all the parties to the trans- action being within the jurisdiction of this Court, and the transaction itself having been concluded in Hongkong, that Messrs. Renter, Brockelmann and Company were subject to the jurisdiction of this Court in the matter of this bank- ruptcy. This aspect of the case was not very much referred to in argument, but it is sufficiently material for me to deal with it. All persons in the Colony, British subjects or aliens, who are creditors of a bankrupt who is before the Court in bankruptcy, are subject to the jurisdiction of the Court. There is no doubt that if assets belonging to the bankrupt are discovered in another country and a creditor endeavours to obtain them for his own benefit, the Court has some jurisdiction to control his action, and this, if he is within the jurisdiction, whether he has proved in the bankruptcy or not. It is not necessary to define with precision to what extent that jurisdiction goes, it is sufficient to note that it exists: also that the discovery of a partner in another country whose property could be brought into the bankrupt estate for the benefit of the creditors comes within the meaning of assets as above referred to. Further it is clear that if Renter, Brock- elmann and Company's application to the German Consul for assistance in recovering such assets in Canton came within the terms of the jurisdiction clauses of the Treaties of Tientsin, so also would an application by the trustee in bankruptcy to the British Consul for similar assistance within those clauses. And for myself I have no doubt whatever that what Messrs. Reuter, Brockelmaan and Com- pany did in this instance was an attempt to passer outre the trustee in the Cheong Loong Bankruptcy. They did not prove in that bankruptcy, but endeavoured to obtain a pay- inent of the whole sum due to them by application to the German Consul; and I have no doubt that, at least during the pendency of the bankruptcy proceedings before this Court this was in violation of the bankruptcy laws of this Colony, under the protection of which they carry on their business in this Colony. Action of this sort is most prejudicial to the other traders, of all nationalities as well as British, in Hongkong, and must therefore be also highly prejudicial to the great international trade of the Colony, It is one of those "loose ends" which result from the consular jurisdiction treaties with China, and which it would be for the benefit of all concerned in the commercial welfare of this Colony, to get rid of by putting the whole question on a more satisfactory and equitable basis. 1 am bound to allude to this matter, because I think it is of the utmost importance that the innumerable foreign firms who trade in this Colony should realise it. That large measure of freedom of trade and access to our Courts which has been accorded to "merchant strangers repairing into the realm of England,"-not to be described as the "open door," for since Magna Carta and the 14th year of Richard II. there has never been a door to close,-carries with it implicit obedience to our laws, which I believe are framed in the best interests of this free commerce. It is just this which makes the difference between trading in a British Colony and
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