CO129-399 - Governor Sir May - 1913 [1-2] — Page 170

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REGE17 FEB 13

169

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONGKONG, 17th. January, 1913.

I have the honour to state that representations

have been made to me regarding the supervision by this Government

of the analysis of Yunnan tin suelted in Hongkong.

2.

Owing to various difficulties in connection

with the purification of the ore at the mines it has become the

practice to bring the crude metal to be suelted here, with a

resultant export trade estimated at some five to six thousand tons

of a value approximating to $10,000,000 yearly. Much of this money

remains, it is reported, in the Colony in exchange for merchandise

which is exported to the Yunnan miners.

3.

The exported metal should contain a percentage

ranging from 96 to 99 per centum of pure tin, and it has been the

custom for exporting firms to cut a piece of tin from approximately

one in every one hundred slabs, and to send these pieces to the

Government Laboratory for analysis. The Government Analyst's report

has always been accepted as reliable and binding upon both buyers

and sellers; but recently buyers abroad have complained that

analysis made in Europe has shown a lesser percentage of pure tin

than that certified. The buyers in no way question the Government

Analyst's action in the matter, but they suggest that the manner in which the samples are taken is not reliable.

It appears that if samples were taken by the

Laboratory Staff all parties would be satisfied, but the Government

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P.,

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Analyst