33706
79
350
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
33705
SIR,
No. 59.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 18th July, 1916.)
[Answered by No. 61.]
Foreign Office, 17th July, 1916. WITH reference to your letter of the 12th instant,* I am directed by Secre- tary Sir E. Grey to state that he sees no objection to the Governor of the Straits Settlements being informed that His Majesty's Government approve his proposal that the store buildings in Penang which are partly owned by Mr. R. Sturzenegger should be sold by auction.
Sir E. Grey presumes that the Swiss Minister in London can be notified that Mr. Sturzenegger will be able to bid for the buildings at the auction if he desires to do so, but he would be glad to be assured that Mr. Secretary Bonar Law sees no objection to a communication being addressed to Monsieur Carlin in this sense.
I am, &c.,
31683
No. 60.
HONG KONG.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. (Confidential.)
A. LAW.
Downing Street, 18th July, 1916. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 229, of the 2nd June,† and to inform you that I approve generally the steps which you are taking in the liquidation of enemy firms.
2. I will now take in detail certain of the points raised in your despatch Paragraph 7.-I approve the proposal that the direct liabilities of the Hong Kong branches of enemy firms should take precedence of any claims against other branches.
Paragraph 12.-Payment of accounts between the branches of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank at Hong Kong, Singapore, and Calcutta. I am consulting the Treasury upon this question, and will address you further at a later date
"
Paragraph 13.-The "London branch of Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg & Com- pany is being allowed to be carried on under a supervisor; I understand that it is regarded by the Board of Trade as quite distinct from the Hong Kong concern.
Paragraph 14 (and enclosure 3).-I agree that the assets of the Hong nong and Singapore branches of Messrs. Gaupp & Company should not be pooled, and the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who has telegraphed to me that he takes the same view, has been informed accordingly. In this connexion I shall be glad to learn whether the Captain Bunje mentioned in enclosure 3 is identical with Emil Theodore Bunje mentioned in your Confidential despatch of the 15th July, 1915, and is, therefore, an American citizen. I assume that this is the case.
Paragraph 15, as modified by your telegram of the 26th June§; I approve the proposed provision as regards power of disclaimer.
Paragraph 22.-I agree that you should not instruct the liquidators to advertise for claims except locally.
Paragraph 23.-I agree that the houses in which the furniture of enemy subjects is stored should be given up and the furniture stored there sold.
Paragraph 24.-The case of the leasehold property of the Basel Mission and the Rheinische Mission will be dealt with separately.
I have, &c.,
A. BONAR LAW.
* No. 55.
† No. 54.
+ 28643.
§ No. 50.
SIR,
No. 61.
COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.
[Answered by No. 63.]
Downing Street, 28th July, 1916. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Bonar Law to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th July* relative to the sale by auction of the store buildings in Penang which are partly owned by Mr. R. Sturzenegger, and to request you to inform Secretary Sir E. Grey that Mr. Bonar Law sees no objection to the Swiss Minister in London being informed that Mr. Sturzenegger will be able to bid for the buildings at the auction if he desires to do so.
2. I am to state that, subject to the concurrence of Sir E. Grey, Mr. Bonar Law proposes to instruct the Governor of the Straits Settlements to include in the conditions of the sale of the property in question conditions requiring the purchaser to make a statutory declaration that he is not acting for any enemy subject or corporation or for a corporation under enemy control, and also requiring him to give a bond with sureties that the land will not, during the War or during a period of ten years after the termination of the War, be transferred or mortgaged to or owned by or held in trust for or under the control or for the benefit of an enemy subject or corporation or corporation under foreign control. The bond that would be required would be for the amount of the purchase money. These conditions and the form of statutory declaration and bond would follow, with the necessary modifi- cations, conditions Nos. 10 and 11 in the conditions attached to the contract for the sale of prize ships issued by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the forms of declaration and bond in use under those conditions.
3. I am to add that, if Sir E. Grey concurs in such a course, Mr. Bonar Law proposes to instruct the Governments of the various Crown Colonies and Protec- torates to include similar conditions in the conditions of sale for all real estate and other permanent assets of enemy firms which are being liquidated in the territory under their administration.
35536
SIR,
No. 62.
I am, &c.,
H. J. READ.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNORS, &c.t (Circular.)
Downing Street, 1st August, 1916. I HAVE the honour to inform you that I am considering, in consultation with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether steps should not be taken to include in the conditions of sale of all permanent assets of enemy firms now in liquidation in the Colonies and Protectorates conditions requiring the purchaser to make a statutory declaration that he is not, and is not acting for, an enemy subject or enemy corporation, or corporation under enemy control, and to give a bond with approved sureties that the property purchased will not during the War and a fixed period after its termination be transferred or mortgaged to, or owned by, or held in trust for or on behalf of or for the benefit of, an enemy subject, enemy corporation, or corporation under enemy control.
2. The conditions and forms which I have in view would be similar to con- ditions numbers 10 and 11 of those now in use for the Sale of Prize Ships and the forms of Statutory Declaration and bond used under these conditions. As I pro- pose to communicate to you by telegram any decision which may be reached to adopt these conditions and forms, I think it desirable to send out, for your infor- mation in advance, copies of the Conditions and Forms for the Sale of Prize Ships.t
* No. 59.
Hong Kong, Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Nigeria. Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Uganda, East
Africa Protectorate, Zanzibar, Nyasaland, Jamaica, Trinidad, British Guiana. ‡ Not printed.
15
SIR,