CO129-387 - Individuals - 1911 — Page 77

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auxiliary, with regard to such Companies; and he thinks that,

Subject to the legal considera-

tions mentioned below, Hr Jaroourt thinks

therefore that a settlement of this ques-

tion should proceed upon the basis of con-

tinuing upon the Hong Kong register all

Companies trading in Shanghai and of

giving to the Shanghai Court certain auxiliary

powers with regard to them.

5.

This course is however attended by

the following legal difficulty. It does

not appear to be clear that the

jurisdiction at present exercisable by

the Shanghai Court under the China

Orders in Council would enable it to deal

at all with Companies some of the Directors

or members of which are not British sub

jects, or that existing treaties leave it

open to His Majesty to confer such power

(if it does not already exist) on the

Shanghai Court by Order in Council. It

will

DRAFT.

will however be remembered that the

decided Shanghai Court has already hold

that under etené

clause

of Aot No. 89

of the Order in Council of 1904 the

Imperial Companies Act of 1908 is

in force in Shanghai while Sir

Francis Pigott, Chief Justice of

the Colony of Hong Kong, has denied this

this claim of the Shanghai Court

by hum

in a judgment delivered on the 31st

October 1910 in

in re The Dallas Horse

Repository Company, Limited). If

Sir Edward Grey considers that the

solution proposed in paragraph 4

of this letter is a reasonable one

might

Mr Harcourt would suggest that

the matter fr

might be desirable to refer to the afored

Law Officers for their opinion on

that point of Jimidiation.

6. Assuming that it is deciddd

that