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The Chinese are not, so far as my experience goes, anxious to play a large part in the civil administration of Hong Kong; they are for instance unenthusiastic over the projected Municipal Council.
As regards the representation of labour, the proposal to include Mr. Baker temporarily on the Committee is entirely innocuous, but I wonder whether the Governor's approach to this question is on the right lines. It is not the seamen who should be represented on such a Committee but the much less vocal shore labour. There is actually an altercation in progress at present between the Hong Kong Seamen's Union and the Chinese Seamen's Union, as to their respective rights and privileges in Hong Kong. I do not know much of the pros and cons of this dispute, but I do know that the Companies muddle through the conflicting claims by a means of various oriental compromises. I suggest that you invite the Colonial Office to enquire whether representation of shore labour would not only be easier to obtain but also be more consonant with the objectives of a Port Committee. There are almost certain to be shore labourers in Hong Kong (foremen perhaps) who have had sufficient education in English to be able to read and write intelligently.
I have little to say on the subject of the Marine Courts except that the present system appears to work very satisfactorily. The subject is a technical one; the cases are reported daily in the press and the only public criticism which I have encountered is in connection with inquiries into two recent cases of fires on ships, resulting in one case in heavy loss of life, where the suggestion was made that the conclusions were inconsistent; in both cases the considerations were almost entirely technical, and the enquiries were properly conducted by or under the Director of Marine, who was able to give a convincing reply to the criticisms.
I hope this enables you to reply to the Colonial Office. My next report is intended to deal with Hong Kong and I may revert in it to some of these questions in a different form.
Yours sincerely,
(signed) D. F. ALLEN.
U.K.Shipping Rep. for Far East.