CO129-441 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [1-3] — Page 462

1

COPY.

sir,

The Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce.

25722

21st. March, 1917. TREC

REG 18 MAY 17

456

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter No. 3295/16 of 22nd. February, covering copy of a letter from H.B.M. Charge d'Affaires at Peking with enclosures thereto regarding the attitude of the Tonkin Authorities with regard to the import of British goode into Indo-China.

My Committee have carefully considered the correspondence and deduse therefrom that R.B.M. Charge d'Affaires at Peking apparent - ly accepts the principle that goode shall be shipped by French vessels when they have space, a principle which does not sufficiently meet

our case.

Our grievance is that British shipping will lose connections which they have enjoyed of bringing shipments of cargo through from Great Britain to Indo-China ports with unrestricted transhipment by British steamere at Singapore or Hongkong.

The change which the Indo-China Authorities are now bringing into force will probably result in the connections in Great Britain being eventually transferred to French shipping Companies and further the local connectione from which local British Steamship Companies

benefitted being diverted to local French steamers.

This Chamber is not anxious about securing a temporary

provision but wishes to maintain and establish the right of equal

treatment for British steamere or for cargo by British steamers to

that obtaining for French vessels, particularly from British ports.

I am desired to request that you will be good enough to

convey to His bxcellency the Governor the thanks of my Committee for

again supplying this Chamber with oopiss of correspondenos with Peking

on this subject and will much appreciate whatever further efforts may

be made to have the restrictions complained of removed.

The Honourable

I have &o.,

(sd.) E. &. M. Williams,

Secretary.

The Colonial secretary.