Enclosure 1.
COPY.
sir,
384
Victoria Buildings, Hongkong.
5th. September, 1913.
While Hongkong holds today the proud position of the
third Port of the Empire in point of tonnage entering and clearing,
it behoves us to take all such precautions and steps as may be necessary to maintain so important a position; and that there is an insidious element at present endangering that position is my endeavour now to convince you. It must be borne in mind that Hongkong is in no way a Producing Centre necessitating the pre- -sence of shipping to carry its produce to all parts of the world but is rather a Distributing Centre for the Far East and therefore the importance of rendering our Harbour attractive must not be lost sight of. With this end in view I submit that the time has now arrived for the Government to consider and put into operation with as little delay as possible a comprehensive scheme for dredging the harbour to a minimum depth of 40 feet at lowest spring tides.
With the widening and deepening of the Suez Canal and the opening of the Panama Canal, the tendency of ship owners will be to build vessels of a draught even deeper than that of the large vessels which now enter our Harbour, such as the "Minnesota", "Manchuria", "Mongolia", "Tenyo Maru", the new Express Boats, and others, which have a draught of from 30 to 38 feet; and it would be to our lasting disgrace should such have to pass us by owing to an insufficient depth of water. That the requisite depth in many parts of the Harbour is lacking is evidenced by the fact that quite recently the "Minnesota" was compelled to discharge a large portion of her cargo into lighters outside the Harbour limits before she could proceed to her usual anchorage causing con- -siderable delay and expense to the steamer. Another instance may be cited in the stranding of the Steamer "Kansas" last year on the shallow spit near Tsim Tea Tsui point.
I happen to be in a position to know that the Directors of the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, being desi-
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