Jurči
14
depositions of the two clerke in the Harbour Office were based not on the clerks' personal knowledge but on a report of a third person, and merely etated that the deceased were dependante.
Er Brett further explained that the Federation are accustomed to pay compensation almost daily to dependente domiciled abroad in European countries on evidence submitted through the British Consul as to the relationship and depend- ency of the deceased and on the Consul undertaking to administer the money, and that, except in one or two (Greek) cases, no difficulty has ever arisen. The Federation also pay compensation to dependents of Lascars through the Shipping Master at Bombay. It is only in the case of claime (which have only rarely been made) by dependents of Chinese seamen domiciled in the East that difficulty has occurred, and the Federation would be quite ready to pay compensation to the dependants in these cases, without
requiring their presence in this country, if some responsible Government official would personally investigate the cases and certify to the validity of the claim, and would underteke to administer the compensation. This has not so far been
done in any case by any official in Hong Kong.
At the same time, Mr Brett pointed out that under the Act (Schedule I paragraph (5)) compensation in all fatal cases where there are dependante, is required to be paid into the County Court, and consequently that in paying money over to Consuls and other persons for the benefit of dependents abroad the Federation are not complying with the Act and can obtain no valid receipt for the money. They are, however, prepared to take this risk.
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