Immigration.
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127. All records of the Marriage Registry were destroyed, but procedure under the Marriage Ordinance, 1875, was resumed on the 15th September, 1945. From the documents in the custody of those places of worship which had not been destroyed, records were compiled of marriages celebrated during the occupation, and legislation was prepared with a view to validating marriages which had been celebrated in internment camps or elsewhere without compliance with requirements of the marriage Ordinance.
128. In November, 1945. an crder was made under the Delegation of Powers (Amendment) Proclamation with a view to enabling non-contentious probate matters to proceed. Grants of probate were made under this order and approximately 100 applications for grants were in action on the 31st March.
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129. Substantially the whole of the records of the Registrar of Companies was destroyed, or otherwise disposed of, by the enemy. Provision was made for the registration of companies. All those companies which were on the register when the Colony came under Japanese occupation were requested to furnish copies of their Memoranda and Articles of Associa- tion and other essential particulars. 160 companies had complied with this request by the end of March. Owing to the rendition of the concessions, the relinquishment of rights of extra- territoriality and the changes in Chinese Company Law, it was necessary to make provision for the registration in Hong Kong of those China Companies which were formerly registered in Shanghai.
130. The population of the Colony at the Japanese sur- render was roughly estimated at between four and six hundred thousand. For the first two-and-a-half months the restrictions on entry into the Colony from China, which had been imposed in 1940, were nominally in force. The Administration lacked the means of enforcing these restrictions and it was clear that they were regarded with increasing lack of sympathy by the Chinese Government. Discussions were carried out in Canton and it was agreed to lift the restrictions in return for a pro- mise of help with food supplies from the Canton authorities. This agreement was valuable as a gesture, but its visible effects
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were restricted by the general shortage of food throughout South China and the microscopic effect of the restrictions upon the actual immigration position. During November it was felt that the inflow of population would be limited by the lack of communications and transport, and the unsettled conditions in South Kwangtung generally. These obstacles to immigration, if in fact they ever existed, were soon overcome, and by February it was estimated that the population was increasing at the rate of some 100,000 per month. The influx by train alone accounted for a weekly average of 2,000 persons.
131. For the first six months the entry of Europeon women and children into the Colony was forbidden, and the entry of European male civilians was limited to those previous- ly resident in Hong Kong whose return would be likely to assist in the rehabilitation of the Colony. On the 1st March wives and families of those European civilians already resident in the Colony, or whose entry was subsequently sanctioned, were allowed to return, though this relaxation was considered un- likely to have any immediate marked effect, in view of the shortage of passenger shipping between the United Kingdom and the Far East.
132. To enforce these regulations on the entry of Euro- peans into the Colony, and to deal with the ever-increasing number of applications, a Passport Office was established. Ships were boarded on arrival by immigration officers and controls were established at Kai Tak airfield, the railway station, and on the local river steamers to Macao and Canton,
133. The procedure for obtaining permission to enter was later modified to the extent that the authorities in England and Australia were not required to refer to the Administration the cases of those whose services could be considered beneficial to the Colony.
134. The Passport Officer also controlled the issue of travel documents and SEAC permits to persons wishing to leave the Colony. Visas and endorsements were added to passports, but no new passports were issued during the Military period.
ER