21617/92.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
LTC.O.885
13 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
MY LORD,
No. 38A.
(Howa Kong.)
LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE.
Royal Courts of Justice, February 18, 1885. We were honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Sir J. Paunce- fote's letter of the 16th instant, stating that he was to transmit to us a letter from the French Ambassador, and the papers noted in the accompanying list, relative to a request by the French Government that the export of arms and munitions of war from Hong Kong should be prohibited during the continuance of hostilities between France and China, under the powers conferred on the Governors of the Colony by Ordinance No. 3 of 1862. That that Ordinance was an adaptation of section 150 of the Customs Consolidation Act (16 & 17 Vict. c. 107), as to which Sir Julian Pauncefote was to refer us to the Law Officers' Report of the 14th October 1870, in which it was shown that the provision in question applied only where this country was at war, and was intended only for national protection, and not for the purpose of securing neutrality.
That Sir J. Pauncefote was to observe that, as stated by the French Ambassador, the Hong Kong Ordinance had been occasionally put in force when Great Britain had not been at war, namely, where civil commotions had broken out in the mainland of China near Hong Kong; that a similar course had been followed in the Straits Settlements when riots had broken out among the natives in the neighbouring Dutch possessions.
But that those cases afforded no precedent for prohibiting the export of arms to secure neutrality in a war between two foreign nations. That it was pointed out, however, in the Reports of the Law Officers above referred to, that an exceptional course had been taken in consequence of special provisions in treaties, and that your Lordship would be glad to be favoured with our opinion whether there would be any objection to a proposal being made to the French Government for a special arrange ment whereby the export of arms and munitions of war from Hong Kong to China should be prohibited under the Colonial Ordinance in question, on condition of the French Government abstaining from enforcing the belligerents' right of search of neutral vessels on the high seas.
That our opinion was also requested as to the reply which should be returned to M. Waddington's letter conveying the request of his Government that the export of arms from Hong Kong should be prohibited under the Colonial Ordinance above referred to.
In obedience to your Lordship's commands, we have the honour to
Report-
That we are of opinion that the request of the French Ambassador should not be complied with. That request is simply a demand on the part of the French Govern- ment that the exportation, from English territory, of contraband of war should be forbidden in the interests of France.
There can be no right in a belligerent State to call upon a neutral Government to prevent the exportation of goods from its territory, on the ground that they may be used for belligerent purposes. It may be well to remind the French Ambassador that the French nation would have had great ground of complaint if this country had com- plied with the request of the German Government in 1870 to prohibit the exportation of arms and munitions of war from this country.
Upon the further question submitted to us, we are of opinion that it is competent for the Governor of Hong Kong to exercise the powers contained in the Ordinance of 1862, and to prohibit the exportation of arms, &c. to all places generally, and we think that Her Majesty's Government might sanction such prohibition, not because it is demanded by France, but in the interests of this country. Such interests may
• M. Waddington, February 4; Colonial Office, February 10, 1885, with Hong Kong Ordinance No. 3, of March 17, 1802, see Confidential No. 5163, pp. 23 and 32; Law Officers' Reports of July 25 and October 14, 1870, Confidential No. 3660, pp. 123, 180.
• 7045), -84.
25.-11/99.