CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907 — Page 22

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Minute by Sir H. de Sausfiareg. 0.

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DEC 09 1908

5 JAN 07:

The greater part of this correspondence appears

to me to lave arisen from a desire of the Chief Justice

of Hongkong that the jurisdiction of his Court s'ould

not be ousted by informal enquiries held by a Committee

comprised of the Consul-General, the Colonial Secretary

and the Registrar. This is mainly a matter for the

Hongkong Government, but I do not see how the collec-

tion in China of debts due to resid-nts in

to be facilitated by his proposals.

ongkong is

If any British subject requires the assistance of

his Consul to enable him to collect a debt from a Chinaman he will, if his claim is a proper one, get it, whether the debt is contracted in Hongkong or elsewhere and the Consul will do his best "to see justice done between the parties". Treaty or no treaty, bina, which pretends to be a civilised Stale, cannot refuse

him assistance.

It appears to me therefore that as regards British subjects the treaty is obsolete, save that the Consul's hands are strengthened vis-à-vis the Viceroy in Canton by his assistance being askedby the longkong Government.

British subjects of Chinese extraction who are entitled to British protection come under the heading of british subjects in the foregoing paragraph. "hat Chinese fallwithin this category has been fully laid

scrice of instinations from home down in the Foreign Office Pircular, 15th January-1905 and if they are resident in that Hongkong the Govern- . ment of that Colony can identify them.

As regards foreigners, if they have their own

Consul