PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
سيسيا
Reference :--
TICO. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRE NOT TO
158
HỒNG CÔNG.
5. At this time Commodore Anstruther asked me to take possession of all steam coal in the Colony for the use of His Majesty's ships. I ascertained through the Harbour Master that there was a quantity of about 5,000 tons of such coal as the Commodore required in the possession of a private firm. I obtained the option of purchasing this coal, and it was subsequently bought by the Naval authorities.
6. On the 31st of July I received your message of the 30th ultimo, and I ordered preparations for the institution of the Examination Service. On the 2nd of August I received your telegram instructing me to institute the Examination Service, and on the same day I received your instructions to call out the Naval Reserves. Action in both cases was taken on the 2nd of August, but it was not pos sible to publish the Notification, copy enclosed,* concerning the Examination Ser- vice, or the Proclamation, enclosure No. 4, calling out the Naval Reserve until Monday, the 3rd of August. I enclose copy of the Traffic Regulations.*
7.
In accordance with your telegram of 2nd instant, I issued a Notification, enclosure No. 5,* of the suspension of telegraph and radio-telegraph services throughout the Empire, except under certain conditions.
Censorship was accordingly established at the offices of the Eastern Extension and Great Northern Telegraphs, in which, as you are aware, is situated the office of the Chinese Telegraph Administration.
It was found necessary, since messages en clair were permitted, to appoint twenty Assistant Censors under the Censor, with four Chinese Masters from Queen's College for reading Chinese telegrams. In the absence of the Director of Education on leave, Mr. T. K. Dealy, Headmaster of Queen's College, was appointed Censor. All detained telegrams are submitted to the General Staff Officer for final The Assistant Censors decision as to whether they should be suppressed or not. work in shifts of six hours at a stretch. The Cable Companies have given every facility to the Censors. The censorship, as far as the conveyance of information to the enemy at Tsingtau, his base in the Far East, is concerned, must be largely pre- judiced by the fact that a spy in Hong Kong could easily send a message by band to one of the Chinese Telegraph Offices in Canton for transmission over the Chinese land lines; or a spy residing in Canton could easily obtain through Chinese or other sources information from Hong Kong and transmit it in the same way. The same remarks apply to Macao, where there is also a Chinese Telegraph Office.
At the same time censorship of suspected postal matter was instituted and gradually developed. There is now the following staff engaged in this work:-
Mr. E. D. C. Wolfe
Mr. H. Dixon
Mr. A. J. Reed
Mr. T. H. Martin
Mr. C. J. Poole
Mr. R. Gutierrez Mr. E. J. F. Gomes
Mr. G. P. de Martin
Mr. F. J. de Rome
Rev. C. Bone
Post Office Staff.
Interpreters. Not in the Postal Service.
It is not possible, of course, to censor the whole of the enormous Chinese corres- pondence that passes between Hong Kong, Canton and Macao, nor, indeed, all the large European correspondence between these places.
8. The instructions contained in your telegram of the 4th instant regarding precautions to be taken by British shipping was immediately communicated to the Reporting Officer and to the Commodore.
9. Your telegram of the 4th instant instructing me to be on my guard against sudden attack in advance of formal declaration of war was received on the same date, and was at once communicated to the General Officer Commanding the Troops and the Commodore. Your telegram of the same date informing me that war had broken out with Germany was received on the 5th instant, and the follow- ing Proclamations, enclosure No. 6.* were immediately published :-
(a) Proclamation of State of War.
(b) Proclamation that His Majesty's Forces are subject to Army Act.
*Not printed.
159
HONG KONG.
(e) Proclamation calling out the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps and enrolling of Hong Kong Volunteer Reserves as members of the Volunteer Corps and of additional members of that Corps.
(d) Proclamation reassuring population as to adequacy of the defences to resist
attack and enjoining it to pursue its usual avocations.
(a) Proclamation announcing the appointment of a Board to assess compensa-
tion for articles taken possession of by the Government.
(f) Proclamation publishing the Order in Council of 26th October, 1896. 10. On receipt of your telegram of the 5th instant I published the Order in Council, copy enclosed, concerning the granting of days of grace, amended in accordance with your instructions by telegram of the same date; and on the 6th August I submitted another Proclamation on the same subject, amended in accordance with your second telegram on the same subject of the 5th instant. On this date I appointed the Harbour Master as Detaining Officer and his instructions I enclose a were amended in accordance with your telegram of the 5th instant. copy of the instructions.*
11. Again on the 5th instant I issued a Proclamation, copy of which is attached to enclosure No. 7, prohibiting the exportation of various military and naval stores. This list is on the lines recommended in the new Defence Scheme, copy of which is being sent to you by this mail. In list A are included Naval stores which are judged useful to the enemy, and in list B auch Naval stores as may be useful to him. In the list of prohibited articles are included those mentioned in your code telegram of the 4th instant.
The form of a Proclamation under the local law was adopted on the authority of Section 182 of Secret Memorandum No. 470 M, enclosed" in your confidential despatch of the 30th May last.
12. On the 8th instant I issued a Proclamation, enclosure No. 9,* enrolling members of the Volunteer Reserve in the Volunteer Corps.
13. I was unable to act on your code telegram of the 6th instant, concerning the export of prohibited articles to particular places, until the 8th instant, as it was necessary to amend the local Ordinance No. 1 of 1882, which is general in its appli- cation. As soon as this was done I issued a Proclamation,* copy enclosed, in which the words "and on the east coast of Asia between the twentieth and fiftieth are inserted after the words "on the Mediterranean and Black degrees of latitude Sea."
Between the degrees of latitude mentioned are comprised the territories between French Possessions on the south and Russian on the north, which seems a necessary addition in order to make the prohibition of export locally effective.
"
14. On the 6th instant I complied with your instructions, contained in your code and cipher telegrams of that date, by issuing the enclosed Proclamations* concerning the raising of loans on behalf of the German Emperor or contracting with his Government and trading with the enemy.
15. On the 7th instant I issued a Proclamation,* copy enclosed, to control the export of staples of food, and on the same date I appointed a Committee to control the prices of food under the authority of the Order in Council of the 26th of October, 1896.
10. The banks mentioned in your code telegram of the 6th August were informed in accordance with your instructions.
17. Your telegrams of the 7th instant concerning the arrest of enemy's reservists have been acted upon, and there are now 49 reservists or suspected reser- vists under arrest. The majority of these arrived from Manila and Haiphong en route for the North. The principle that has been acted upon is that Germans travelling in the direction of Tsingtau who cannot prove that they are not reser- viste, and who are suspected of being reservists, are detained. occasion for telegraphing to the Admiralty the names of vessels carrying reservists.
18.
There was no
In acknowledging this telegram I took the opportunity of asking your directions concerning the question of allowing certain second reservists and other members of the German civil population to remain in the Colony.
* Not printed.