CO129-392 - Governor Sir May - 1912 [9-10] — Page 382

:

s

Enclosure

367

Chan King-wa, who was made the channel of a communication designed to assuage the feelings of this Government, has nothing to do with financial matters at Canton. His position as Commissioner of Police brings him usually into relations with the Captain Superintendent of Police and Registrar-General only on matters concerning the suppression of crime.

2.

Enquiries showed that there was a considerable number of Canton notes in circulation in the Colony the estimate was that the face value of such notes was about $1,000,000, a pro- -portion of which was held for speculative purposes; that there was an Agency in the Chinese business quarter of Victoria at which large quantities of these notes could be bought at two or three days notice; that at this place transactions in notes were only done in the early morning and at night and that access was only permitted to members of the Money Changers Guild; that most of the notes purchased at this Agency at a discount of 7 per centum were

to be just into circulation exported to Canton ihmals at par; but that a considerable number of notes were in circulation in the Colony, nearly every Chinese shop accepting and paying them out at a discount of 7 per centum.

As the Agency referred to is merely a koney changing establishment it was not possible to proceed against it under Ordinance No.2 of 1895, but in order to warn the promoters of this scheme and the public, I caused the attached notice to be issued by the Treasurer.

Before I did so I consulted the Executive

Council in the matter and I also had an interesting conversation with the Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council. I

pointed out that while I was unwilling to do anything which would

depreciate these notes in Canton in view of the financial difficul-

-ties of the Government there, my hands were forced by the incon-

-siderate and objectionable action of the Authorities there, who

while very jealous of what they conceived to be the sovereign

rights of China lost no opportunity of ignoring the most elementa-

-ry rules of etiquette vis à via the Government of this Colony.

1

Mr.