CO129-425 - Governor Sir May - 1915 [10-12] — Page 363

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taken, and I also thought that the Right Honourable the Secretary of State might have had some reason for not wishing its provisions to be introduced in this Colony. I therefore did not raise the point. It will of course be noticed that His Excellency the Governor's powers under section 6 of the principal Ordinance, and under the Alien Enemies (Winding up) Ordinance, 1914, were in some respects| wider than any powers conferred by the principal Act. When section 9 of the present Ordinance was being drafted the non-inclusion of the above subsection was considered, but I thought that the case would be sufficiently covered by a reference to liability to inspection under section 3 of the principal Ordinance. The phrase "liable to inspection" was hardly suitable in this connection, but my view at the moment was that it would be construed as mean- ing liable to inspection by reason of the actual issue of a warrant or order under section 3 of the principal Ordinance, and that the registration of a company formed to acquire any suspicious undertaking could be prevented by the issue of a warrant or order under that section, as the facts known would probably justify an application for such

warrant or order. The Registrar of Companies has, however, pointed out that some of the "China companies" which are practically German in character may possibly think it of advantage to transfer their undertakings to new Hongkong companies in which the nominal shareholders and directors would be neutrals, and that in the case of some "China com- panies" it would not be possible to point to any offence or anticipated offence against the law of Hongkong, as the whole management and business of some of these companies are carried on outside the territorial jurisdiction of this

Colony.

The danger does not seem great but an amendment

of the law on this point is under consideration.