"
10
Insurance, Fire and Marine.-The Singapore Marine Insurance Agents' Associa- tion state that competition from enemy countries was not severely felt before the The principal war, and there is little likelihood of any such menace after the war. difficulty which companies have to contend with is the recent introduction of about a dozen Chinese non-tariff companies, none of them particularly strong, but strong enough in the aggregate to make their presence felt. The suggestion is made that every company transacting Fire and Marine Insurance business in the Colony should be compelled by law to hold at least 10,0007. worth of approved British Government stocks. The introduction of such legislation would prevent small and financially weak native concerns from doing business, and at the same time would be a protection to native policy-holders.
Protection of Trade Marks.-My attention has been called by the Penang Chamber of Commerce to the unsatisfactory state of the law in the Colony with regard to the protection of Trade Marks, and they strongly recommend that effective measures be instituted in order to facilitate the registration of such marks as in Great Britain. They also mention the difficulties experienced by merchants in the Colony owing to the lack of protection from the copying of trade marks by the subjects of other countries, and they recommend that steps be taken to remove this handicap to British trade. It is also suggested that the country of origin should be shown in a prominent position on all goods imported in future from Germany and Austria.
Commercial Intelligence Service. The need is expressed for an active official commercial intelligence service, both in the Straits Settlements and also in the F.M.S. At present the Straits Government confines itself to the issue of an annual volume showing a return of imports and exports, and a very brief annual report which deals with a summary of these returns in the space of half-a-dozen pages. I understand also that the Board of Trade has an Imperial Trade Correspondent at Singapore. These measures are stated to be totally inadequate to the needs of the trade, and the position of the Straits Settlements as the most important British entrepôt in the Far East. I would suggest the appointment of a Trade Commissioner for British Malaya to be stationed with his headquarters at Singapore. His field of activity should include not only the Settlements but also the Federated Malay States, and he should travel periodically through those markets which form the commercial dependencies of the Straits Settlements, viz., Siam, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies, in order carefully to watch and report on the trend of trade throughout this area in so far as it might affect the interests of the Colony. He should be the official channel for all Government commercial inquiries, and should occupy the same relationship to the Straits Government as the present Trade Commissioners do to the Governments of the self-governing Dominions.
Chamber of Commerce.-The Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Exchange, and the Penang Chamber of Commerce, are both international bodies, and prior to the war included German members. The Singapore Chamber has now ruled that no persons, except natural-born British subjects, shall be eligible for election on the Committee, and also that any member who is the subject of a State hereafter commencing war with Great Britain shall cease to be a member from the outbreak of such war.
In view of the fact that the Singapore Chamber nominates one member of the Governor's Legislative Council, and of the proved need for a purely British repre- sentative commercial body in each market to act as the intermediary in commercial matters between the Government officials and the local merchants, and to receive semi-confidential information, I would strongly urge that purely British Chambers of Commerce be formed in the Straits Settlements, and in this recommendation I have the support of many of the Straits firms in London.
Restrictions upon Enemy Activities after the War. The danger of restrictive measures in a great commercial entrepôt such as Singapore is that they would stimulate enemy interests to develop some other port in the archipelago, and would in fact drive them into the hands of the Dutch. German influence throughout Java and the Netherlands Indies is very powerful, and there is steady and increasing com- petition with the Dutch ports, from whence increasing shipments of produce are being made direct to Europe instead of through Singapore. This, however, can only be expected with improved steamship services from Java to Europe. Singapore with its favourable geographical position on the direct steamer route to the Far East, its powerful Chinese and Malay mercantile community with connections in all the
11
islands, and its efficient shipping, harbour, and financial facilities, should, however, be able to maintain and improve its position, provided that it remains a free entrepôt, and that the local coasting services are improved and extended. So far, the only rival Singapore has as a coaling station is Sabang Bay (Puloh Weh), on the north coast of Sumatra, where the Dutch have inade great efforts, with some degree of success, to build up a trade, and have attracted certain Dutch liners and tramp steamers, This port would not appear likely to oust the Colony from its predominant position- firstly, because its hinterland is undeveloped, and, secondly, because it is not a natural centre for native trade. It is almost certain that local feeling will be so bitter against German subjects for many years that they will probably transfer their activities to the Dutch islands, and will make strenuous efforts to divert the trade from the Straits Settlements. These efforts, however, need not be regarded with any concern, provided that British mercantile and shipping interests take active steps to regain those branches of commerce formerly in the hands of the Germans.
While the main body of British mercantile opinion in the Straits is strongly opposed to any interference with the policy of free imports and exports by tariff or otherwise, there is a very strong feeling that the activities of enemy firms in the Colony should be regulated by the Government. The following suggestions have been made by the Penang Chamber of Commerce :-
(1) That present enemy firms should only be allowed to trade in the Colony after the war under special licence of the local Government, and should be at all times subject to an adaptation of the laws controlling limited liability companies
(2) That the turnover value of their trade be subjected to a tax,
251e
(3) That they shall not be allowed to become representative agents of British
manufacturers or other British commercial undertakings.
(4) That they shall not be allowed to own land or house property.
(5) In the event of the above suggestions not being acceptable, that the imposition
of a poll tax be considered.
Further restrictions suggested by a leading merchant in the Colony are as follows:
(1) That no enemy individual or firm should be allowed-
(a) to acquire land or any mortgage ou land; or
(b) to hold shares in any mining company or any industry of Imperial
importance in case of war; or
(e) to be a magistrate, or be employed in the service of any Government,
municipality, or dock board; or
(d) to become a pilot for any Straits waters; or
(e) to be a consul for any country but his own.
(2) That measures should be taken, by subsidy to a British company or otherwise,
to prevent an enemy shipping company from running the mail service between two British Dependencies, a state of affairs which, before the war, actually existed between Singapore and British North Borneo. The question of the precise form any restriction of enemy enterprise should take is one for the careful consideration of H.M. Colonial Office in consultation with the Government of the Straits Settlements, and is beyond the province of this report.
It would appear desirable, however, that the whole question of some form of control over all aliens within the Colony should be considered. The principal difficulty which will have to be faced is the position of the large Chinese community numbering 194,000 out of a total population of 260,000 in Singapore alone, who are the mainstay of the trade of the Settlements, and whose co-operation and goodwill are essential for the development of their industry and commerce.
The Chinese, as
a race, are very much opposed to restriction of this kind, and it is precisely the freedom offered to them by the Colony in the past which has attracted them to the Settlements in preference to the Dutch islands. thereby contributing in great measure to the prosperity of British Malaya.
After a careful consideration of the whole problem, I would make the following suggestions :--
(1) That a system of compulsory registration should be enforced upon all alien individuals and firing other than Asiatics residing or carrying on business in the Colony.
BI
602
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.