CO129-449 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1918 [7-9] — Page 231

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THE APPEAL TRIBUNAL

far as he could make out about 3,000 round in record time if you will; at any vessels arrived during 1917. Of that rate, you can make sure that she will be number 860 were handled by his firm, ready to sail on schedule, and we ask which was a proportion of over twenty you to do it. Even you clerks in your per cent. This shipping department had offices, don't think you cannot help, be been doing a great deal of additional cause you can. You can make sure that work for the Government. A number all those consignment notes and bills of ships had been built here and they of lading are right and that nothing is had seen to the manning and the ques- hung up at the ship for want of papers. tion of supplies. Bhips were being built Let no-one imagine that any of this ia in Japan and their Japan office had trifling; it is not. There is no line of been superintending the work connected human endeavour in which little things with those vessels in consultation with may lead to more tragic consequences the controlling office here. At the be than in ships. While we are so short of ginning of the war, as men began to go shipping nothing that makes for the on service, their Head Office instructions efficiency of the shipping we have left, had been to obtain women and trained however small it may appear in itself, is Chinese to fill the gaps wherever possible, unimportant." and in response to that they bad taken on eleven women in the Hongkong office. It was not possible to get highly trained women locally and they had gone as far 1 Canada for some of them. They had Also brought on for superior positions nine additional Chinese. who were now working in the European office. They had utilised the services of women and Chinese to the fullest possible extent. From the office staff in the Far East, and be meant purely the office staff, thirty- eight men had gone to the front and two more in the North were now about to leave. Of thos, twelve had gone from the Hongkong office. For the superior positions they had always found it neces sary to obtain home trained men, and that was a principle on which they had been working for many years. Of the men being considered one of them, Mr. Johnstone, was a local youth and was the only local youth they bad. He had been with them for three years and was 21 years of age. Mr. McIntyre had had eight years' business experience, four years of which was in the East and four years at Home Mr. Rawlinson, had had nine years' business experience, four years here and five years + Home. Io Great Britain at the present time the importance of such work as those men were doing was fully and freely recog- nised, Only the other day he came across a Home appeal addressed to work. ers overseas which struck him as interest- ing. He would quote a passage:—" That liner from this country must be reloaded to return here at the earliest possible You workers of all grades ashore and afloat, you can get that ship

moment.

In that matter the firm felt it wa their duty to bring those facts to the Tribunal's notice. If their appeal was overruled and the men were taken away from shipping it might lead to difficulties and serious consequences in connection with the shipping traffic they handled for the Government. As the consequences might be very serious it was imperative that they should be able to say that they had fully pointed out all the dangers and difficulties. That was the reason why they had made the appeal. The men themselves were anxious to go if it were decided that it was proper for them to do so. They were all before the Com- mission last year. They were not ap pealing to the Tribunal to allow those men to escape from an unpleasant duty. It was just the opposite, for they were trying to convince the Tribunal that it would be wrong to let them go and that their proper place was to continue in the useful work they were doing. Mr. Thomson went on to draw the Tribunal's attention to the fact that none of the companies the firm represented were re gistered locally, but were registered in Great Britain, and thus became subject to full Imperial taxation. The earnings of the companies did not merely go to benefit roamopolitan shareholders resident in the Far East. They bore the full burden of Imperial taxation, including income tax and excess profits tax, from which very large revenge accrued to the Im- perial Treasury. On bearing the deci

ton of the Tribunal he had telegraphed to the Head Office in London saying that four men were being taken, although

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