CO129-431 - Governor Sir May - 1916 [1-2] — Page 597

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the White and Black List System, and the provisions as to manifests were not of universal application. This explains why the plan was adopted of requiring generally, subject to a few exceptions, that no article may be in- ported or exported without either a permit or a licence, and why the requirements as to import and exportstate-

ments were introduced,

In the second place, the problem in Hongkong of deal- ing rith Black List, or non-White ist cargo is, in a very large class of cases, quite different from the prob lems in the United Kingdom and at the Chinese Treaty Ports. The United Kingdom and the Treaty Ports are to

a great extent terminals as regards the China trade, Hongkong is a distributing centre in the case of goods sold in the local market, and a kind of sorting office

in the case of transuipment car,:0. Comparatively little İ comes into Hongkong for its own consumption, or goes out of its own manufacture. The trade thus passing through Hongkong comes from, and goes to, all parts of the world, and in the case of transhipment cargo there is often no person in the Colony who has any knowledge of, or control over the cargo except the shipping companies end shipping agents. The difficulties of dealing adversely with

such cargo are obvious. It may be possible in the Uni-

ted Kingdom legally to prevent Black List or non-White

cargo from ever starting on its journey, and in the Treaty Ports it may be possible by moral suasion and similar

means to ind' ce British and allied shipowners to refrain

from accepting such cargo. In Hongkong the problem is how to deal with Black List and non-White List cargo which is already on its journey, and which may be neutral in origin, destination and ownership. Even if the cargo