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to which must be added that, from the beginning of
this year he has been again Acting Harbour Master.
Apart altogether from this aspect of the position, it is necessary to envisage the fact that, commercially, Hong Kong is about the fifth largest
Port in the World (14,000,000 tons of Shipping 1920)
and calls for, in the person of its Harbour Master and Marine Magistrate a deep and intimate knowledge
of Mercantile Marine Matters, no superficial
acquaintance with its problems is of the least use
either administratively, or judicially. The most intricate problems have to be investigated with the utmost promptness, no delay is possible or the vessel
in trouble must suffer detention and loss.
The examination of Mercantile Marine officers
is another of the important duties of this office and cannot be satisfactorily undertaken by any gentleman whose training is purely Naval. The divergence of
Mercantile Marine methods from those of the Royal Navy precludes any possibility of this important duty being undertaken by a Naval Officer.
We, therefore, submit that Lieutenant
Commander Hake has all the necessary qualifications
for the efficient discharge of the duties of the appointment, indeed, more so when his long service as master in the ercantile Marine is added to his thorough grasp of the intricate local conditions which supervene at present.
It is assumed that, in the event of the change taking place, Lieutenant Commander Hake will revert to Assistant Harbour Master and, in that position will, naturally, have to devote much time to
the