CO129-454 - Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1919 [4-6] — Page 57

before the sale,

This restriction was within the

letter of the Piers Ordinance and Sir F. Lugard's policy

was to attract oversea trade generally to the Government

wharves and eliminate competition by private piers.

This policy the Secretary of State was un-

able to approve, and if he had been consulted beforehand

about the ferry moncpoly in Hong Kong he might have

decided in favour of free competition (subject to the

Ordinance and Regulations) between two or more under-

takers as being more conducive to the public interest

than the grant of a monopoly to one undertaker at the

expense of the people who had started the service and

made considerable expenditure on it.

If this service has been "notoriously

unsatisfactory", as alleged, then either it would have

had to improve under the combined operation of the con- ditions laid down in the Regulations (which I annex)

and competition with other undertakers which would have

been rendered possible by the Government control over

the fares, or else those conditions and efficient

competition would have killed it.

With regard to the last paragrain of Sir

Government control is con-

E.Stubbs' minute, whe

sidered necessary to stimulate progress in any service of public utility, the control can and should be exercised

less drastically than by killing the existing undertaking and giving other people a monopoly.

The existing position as to the wharves

(most or all of which are held on varying terms by the petitioners) is a difficulty in the way of the new grantees of the licence, and is a difficulty moreover which Mr.Hallifax recognises will entail expropriation and compensation so far as the long leases are concerned (Cf. also paragraph 6 of the Committee's report).

If

of

C

54

If the petitioners are legally entitled to compensation in respect of the wharves I think it can fairly be urged that they are equitably entitled to some compensation in respect of the ferry service for the purposes of which alone they leased the wharves.

of the Early hast Shabb

Seen.

Area $14

to concedo anything in

Прийм A pinia that

the way of vested

interests' womed to a bad mistake &

in

wined militate greath again propress in future.

The case is not worthy

dissimilar to the Colombo Lake Case

Where ww

suppressed fought the matter

wm

these people

the

See

wo

anything

Mr. Grindle:

fang service & & the Privy Cancel

all means

have anything

leb

& which

legally entitled but I

for giving them

qes.of.

I wd. write out in the sense of Mr.

Risley's minute; omitting the ref. to the Nig.

pre ce dent, and ask that the matter may be con-

sidered further in consultation with the Løg.

Officers. Say that Sir E. Stubbs, who has