}
Copy.
Enclosure No. 7.
REGISTRY, SUPREME COURT,
HONG KONG, 14th January, 1927.
170
Sir,
I have the honour to submit the following remarks upon the report of the Committee of Enquiry appointed by His Excellency the Governor to investigate the administ- ration and accounts generally of the Supreme Court.
In so far as I was responsible for the employment of the Auctioneering and Brokering Co., Ltd. during the material period I desire to emphasize that the factors which led to their employment were that Messrs. Hughes and Hough no longer had a European conducting their sales, which is in my opinion highly desirable, that the number of reputable auctioneers available for employment was
exceedingly small and that to the best of my knowledge
and belief the financial position of the Company was sound.
I had no reason at that time to distrust Mr. Hill,
the First Bailiff, or to suspect that he had (as seems to
have been the case) any financial interest in the Company,
and I believed that his opinion of the stability of local
concerns, based on the knowledge which he would acquire
in his official capacity, could be relied upon.
It was to the best of my knowledge the opinion of
the majority of the solicitors that the Company was
obtaining better prices on its sales than other auctioneers
in the Colony.
Prior to the commencement of the investigation in
August 1926 I was not aware of anything which might have
led me to believe that the Company was in financial
difficulties, and it appears to me probable that had it
not
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