CO129-397 - Public Offices & Others - 1912 — Page 8

Treaty port or otherwise that the Company was bona fide a British Company, thought fit to register any vessels of the Company as British ships, the Board of Trade would not feel called upon to raise objections to such

registration. It was added that in such cases it would

be necessary that the composition of the Companies

should be carefully examined from time to time in order

that, if it were found that the majority of the direct-

ors and shareholders had become non- -British, the

be British registry of the ships might/closed.

4. Fothing further was heard until 1910, when the

position of the S.S."Tai-Ning", a vessel owned by a

Company registered in Hong Kong and having its principal

place of business in Shanghai, was considered by the Supreme Court at Shangnai in connection with an action

for limitation of liability for collision damages. The

Court held that, in view of the words of Section 1 (d)

of the Merchant Suipping Act, 1894, the vessel was not entitled to be registered as a British ship and that it was not entitled to limitation of liability under

Part VIII of the Act.

5. The Shanghai Consul General then wrote to the Board of Trade asking for instructions and pointing out that this decision mad created a situation of ex- treme difficulty in view of the large number of ships registered at Shanghai in the names of Companies carry- ing on business solely in the Treaty Ports. The Board replied, through the Foreign Office, that if the Com- panies concerned fully understood the position and were prepared to register, or continue the registry of

their

Page