Gen. Dept
Mr Teangern
please see previous minutes
paper, which is now recirculated.
AB
7/5715
Any further communication on this subject should be addressed to
The Secretary,
War Office,
REC
309
16614
REG 9 APR15
London, S.W.
April, 1915.
London, S.W..
on this
and the following number quoted,
War Office,
083/4845
1.0.5.
sir,
I am commanded by the Army Council to acquaint you for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies
wo that they have had under consideration your letter No.6223/1915
of the 18th March, 1915, on the subject of the status of
civilians in Hong Kong under the Order in Council of the 26th October 1896, now in operation in that colony,
2.
As regards paragraph 2 of that letter, which is
addressed to an examination of the effect of the Order in
Council, I an to observe that the Council find themselves
generally in agreement with Mr. Secretary Harcourt, that the
powers of the Military Authorities under this Order must be
confined to matters immediately connected with military
operations and that the authority of the Civil Government
remains in other respects unimpaired, The words "military
operations" must, however, in the Council's opinion, be
interpreted in their widest sense. It must, for example, be
recognised that the control and arrest of persons suspected of
taking or contemplating action prejudicial to the safety of the
Colony; the control of the civil population in matters even
remotely affecting the success of military operations; or the
seizing of land or material for naval or military purposes are
all "matters immediately connected with military operations". The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial office,
3.
S.V.