140
Allen
-
the British Consul at Chefoo, to the Gov-
subsequently withdrawn on the ground of the diead-
C
vantages entailed thereby on British shipping, so
long as the vessels of other Treaty Powers were
not subjected to similar regulations for the safety
ernment of Hong Kong on the 27th of June, in which
he explained the grounds which, in his opinion,
necessitated the adoption of effective measures
in order to provide against the risks of over-
crowding in British vessels conveying passengers
between Chefoo and the districts above referred to.
That Mr Allen appeared to have consulted the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Shanghai
whether he should put in force the Regulations
of the Hong Kong Ordinances No.5 of 1874 and No.1
of 1889, in the case of steamers clearing from Che-
foo to Vladivostock with more than 20 Chinese pas-
sengers.
That eventually a proclamation was issued by
the Hong Kong Government under section 3 of the
Chinese Passengers Act of 1855. whereby obligations
were imposed on British ships so employed as to
additional accommodation fees &c., such as are
not entailed in the case of shorter voyages.
That that Proclamation was, however, subse-
quently
of passengers.
That the Board of Trade, to whom the corres-
pondence
had been referred, had expressed the
opinion that it was desirable that effective mea-
sures should be taken to prevent overcrowding as
far as British vessels engaged in the Chinese passer
ger traffic between Chefoo and Chinese and Russian
Manchuria were concerned, but that power to inter-
fere with British ships in such a matter should not
be entrusted to a Consular Officer unless he was in
a position to avail himself of the requisite tech-
nical advice and assistance.
That Sir Thomas Sanderson was to request that
we would take the papers into our consideration,
that we would favour Your Lordship with our views
and
as to the form which such restrictive measures should
take.
That Your Lordship was of opinion that,
in
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.