TELEPHONE: 3689 VICTORIA.
ENGINEERS
師製
SAS
ASS
SSOCIATION
會造國
BRITISH
THE
sir,
Inland Telegramu: Yingochi. Vio. LONDON.
OVERIEL CABLER: YifcocHI
VIACOCHITONDEN
34965
80
REC?
52, Victoria Street, Westminster,
44.7 OCT 13
London, S.MI. October 7, 1913.
Under Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Colonial Office, Downing Street, 8.W
The attention of this Association has been drawn to a fact which is said to militate seriously against the interests of British manu- facturing engineers in China and I am directed to submit the matter to you and ask the assistance of the Colonial Office in overcoming this difficulty.
The fact that Hong Kong is a British Possession and the natur- al centre where British companies operating in the Far East should be registered, appears to have opened the door to an abuse of the name "British" or "English", in connection with companies registered in Hong Kong.
Some of these concerns, it is alleged, have nothing British about them but the title and are oreated for the purpose of forward- ing the interests of our trade rivals, sometimes by unscrupulous means.
This Association is of course aware that many foreign companies registered in London are allowed to make use of the name "British" in their title when the objects of such companies are detrimental to Brit- ish interests. It is to be presumed, however, that in England people who deal with such concerns can assure themselves as to whether they are really British or not.
In Hong Kong, however, the situation is not the same as I un- derstand that the purpose of the bogus British concerns which are reg- istered there is to lead the Chinese to suppose that the companies in question are owned by British subjects in order to carry on a bona fide British trade when often there is no British capital employed in them and their main object seems to be to sell to the Chinese inferior con- tinental commodities as British. Such a practice is especially detri- mental to British interests and prestige at the present time when for- #ign competitors are taking every possible unfair advantage to secure ous trade and to impress upon the Chinese that the quality of British goods is not so good as it used to be.
I am therefore directed to ask you if it would not be possible for the Colonial Office to prevent the use of the word "British" or "English" or any word which seems to convey these meanings, being used
nativs