CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9] — Page 78

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Conclosure 10.

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Hongkong, 20th. June, 1917.

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of 14th. June.

We now have the honour to reply to your letter

The oopy of the letter of 13th. June from the

Commodore has had the careful consideration of this Committee.

We have also received statements reocrding the more important

imports and exports of the Colony during recent months. Copies

of these are attached.

With regard to these statistics, we do not find

that the figures available enable us to specify a minimua

amount of British tonnage to serve the vital requirements of

Hongkong, and they do not modify the main conclusions arrived

at by the Committee in their report of 6th. June. The conclusion

that stands out mosti olearly is that the foundation and exist-

ence of the Colony are mainly bound up in its status as a

distributing centre and therefore in the maintenance of its

shipping trade.

With regard to the letter from the Commodore, he

asks for a "definite statement of the tonnage required for

various trade routes based on actual trade requirements so a8

"to prevent famine or other serious hardship to the community".

The Committee do not agree with the Commodore that the

prevention of famine or other serious hardship constitutes the

vital requirements of Hongkong and, since the masa of the

community is made up of Asiatics living from hand to mouth on

a simple diet, the theory of rationing does not appeal to them.

They consider that such grave issues are involved in treating

the problem on the basis of the bare feeding of the population

that H. M. Government should be consulted before proceeding

further on those lines. As to the Commodore's reference to the

elimination of luxuries, these so far as the whole population

is concerned are trivial in relation to the amount of cargo

carried, and, so far as Europeane are in question, governed by