CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917 — Page 347

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O (H) (8,575) Wb 29054 585 Cp. 183 20000 8,17 W B & L

(

Registry No. 202858/10F/17.

55292

REC! RE 2017

343

F.O.,

Draft.

terms of the proposed instructions.

I am,

Sir.

Your most obedient,

humble Servant,

Wanchang

sir J. Jordan,

Peking.

No. 119.

Sir:-

November 7th

. 1917.

With reference to Sir E. Fraser's

Despatch to the Foreign Office No.40 of July 14th, copy of which was for-

warded to Peking from Shanghai, in regard

to the case of Messrs. J.A. Wattie and

Company, I have to inform you that on May 22nd instructions were sent to Sir

E.Fraser to regard the Company as a China Company and to test the matter in the

Law Courts if necessary. To these

instructions no answer has yet been re-

ceived but in the meantime I have had under

my consideration the question of amending the China (Companies) Order in Council of

1915 in order to meet the situation which

will be created in the event of the Court

at Shanghai holding that Messrs. J. A.

Wattle and Company are in fact controlled

from London and do not come within the

definition of a "China Company". Should

the decision of the Court render an

amendment necessary I propose, subject to

the