CO129-328 - Governor Nathan - 1905 [1-6] — Page 242

C.0.

301 Ze

RecP

237

practically only remain liable to the suggested tax the pro-

perty held by Ecclesiastical or Charitable Institutions5from

which they derive income. Very few of the religious and chari-

table institutions in Hongkong receive any part of their

revenue from investments. The Tung Wa Hospital (Chinese) holds

some landed property granted to it as an endowment by the

Government but the income from this only goes a short way

towards meeting the expenditure which is mainly provided by

the charitable contributions of the Chinese Community while

the Goverment pays for the maintenance of a Resident Surgeon.

The Trustees of St. Paul's College (Church of England) derive

a small revenue from a block of houses known as College

Gardens" which is used for the sole purpose of the promotion

of the charitable designs and objects of the College. There

remain the Mission Etrangères and the Dominican Mission

(Roman Catholic) which hold considerable property in Hongkong

both in land and mortgages, on which property the usual as-

sessed taxes are of course pain.

5.

I an very doubtful whether it would be in

the general interests of the Colony to impose a tax which would

practically affect these two Missions only and might lead

them to invest their capital at Shanghai or some other place

where they would be free from the impost. A larger proportion

of their income is no doubt now spent in the Colony and for

its benefit than would be the case if they had no vested

interests in it.

6.

At the present time I am therefore not

prepared

{