ليد
י ט
Arg
şir,
зе
227
Hongkong, 24th July, 1914.
80508 REC
| ship-
For many years we have been soulin g
ments of our sugar to Tancouver, B.0. These sugars have gone
into consumption there in friendly rivalry with the products of
the British Columbia Sugar Refining Co., Vancouver. Recently,
however, this Company has pursued vigorously a scandalous adver-
tising campaign in their local press tending to bring the Colony
of Hongkong into contempt and to create a beycott of sugars
refined here by appealing to the race prejudices of the pur-
chasers and falsely representing our sugars to be refined under
conditions which contaminate them. It was thought at first by
our Agents that our best policy would be to ignore the slanders,
but systematic repetition and the bad effect on our trade show
this to be a mistaken view,
We enclose some of the advertisements for your
inspection and attach type-written samples of the publication-s
for greater convenience,
We employ in our two refineries several dosen
Inglish and Scotch workmen as well as Chinese, and, needless to
•
our sugars before, during and after the process of refining
are never touched by hand. As to the cleanliness of the pre-
mises, we challenge comparison with refineries in any part of
the world.
We cannot but think that this mfair attack on
this Colony and on one of its principal industries is one which
the Goverment would wish to combat all it possibly caş,and we
therefore address you in the hope that you will, through the
Colonial Office, bring the facts to the notice of the Government
of British delubia with such suitable representations as will
cause the cessation of these untruthful and injurious publicat-
Kr. Claud Severn,
Colonial Secretary,
Hongkong.
ions