CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917 — Page 663

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All

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this state of affairs should be changed after the war. The other suggestions made refer to Governmental assistance to trade, such as the development of a Government Commercial Intelligence system throughout the East, &c.

Views of the Institute of London Underwriters.-The general views of the Institute with regard to trade policy towards enemy countries after the war are summarised in the resolutions pussed at a meeting of members held on July 21st, 1916. They recommend that:

(1) "No company or individual having an enemy origin, proprietary interest, or nationality should be permitted to transact marine insurance or reinsurance in the United Kingdom directly or indirectly."

(2) "That no British subject or company should be permitted to place with any such company or individual directly or indirectly any marine insurance or reinsurance in this rountry or elsewhere."

(3)

"That it should be recommended that the above-mentioned disabilities be

imposed throughout the British Empire and in the Allied Countries,”

It will be noted that these resolutions refer mainly to the United Kingdom, and do not take into account the special conditions in the Far East. After requesting the views of the Institute on the question of German agencies after the war, I received the following reply :—

It is the unanimous opinion of the Committees of the Institute of London Underwriters and the Liverpool Underwriters' Association that, as a matter of principle, it is not desirable that British insurance companies should grant agencies to German merchants after the war."

After careful consideration of all sides of the question, and of the special conditions prevailing in the Far East, I am of opinion that while everything possible should be done to encourage the British trader to secure a larger share of the trade of the markets under review, any legislation against insaring German risks or appointing tiernan insurance agents in those places where it is deemed advisable to do so would be a direct incentive to our competitors, and would react to the disadvantage of British insurance companies without securing any compensating advantage to British trade.

BAIKAL

M ONGOLIA

Peking

CHINE SE REPUBLIC Tientsin

YELLOW

SEA

TI B

E

Lhasa

CHIN

A PHankow

Shanghai

NEPAL

Calcutta

Canton

FORMOSA *HongKong

Haiphong

BUR

BAY

OF

Chiengma

SIAM

Bangkok

BENGAL

Madras

OCE

BENGAL

CEYLON

80°

EQUATOR

FRENCH INDO

CHINA

Saigon

Penang

apore

JAPAN

SEA

Yokohama

140°

APANESE EMRIK

NORTH Tropic of Cancer

PACIFI C

ОСЕА N

Manila

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

UMATRA

Batavi

BORNE

CELEBES

JAVA JC HAVE A STIN

Samerang Macassar

120

NEW

GUINEA

100

140°

Stanford's Grog! Estabt, London.

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