CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9] — Page 36

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Enclosure 1.

4

31

Hongkong,

28th June, 1917

C14 NC 17

sir,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of

your letter T. L. 41820/1917 of the 1st May informing me

that my letter of the 8th March addressed to the Commodore in Hongkong had been carefully considered by you, and that the requirements of the Government service made it impossible for either the 8.8. "Phranang" or the s.. "Devawongse" to be released from requisition.

Since the despatch of my letter of the 8th March to the Commodore, I have addressed to His Excellency the Governor of Hongkong two letters as per copies attached, which speak for themselves.

Recognizing the exigencies of the Government service, we bow to your decision to retain the two vessels named; but the requisition of our third and remaining steamer, the 8.6. "Singaporean", (made subsequently to my appeal to the Commodore on the 8th March) has placed our Company in a precarious position. As stated in my letter of the 28th March to the Governor, the Company had to borrow money at a high rate of interest to pay for the last repairs of the three steamers which cost close upon $75,000 and which were effected just before the requisitioning order was received from the Naval

Authorities.

The Director of Ship Requisitioning,

Ministry of Shipping,

Transport Department,

LONDON.