CO129-462 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1920 [7-10] — Page 13

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

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(c)

a doubt on the comprehensiveness of the term. The particular provision for enforcing the charge

which is contained in Article 1(xvii)(a) of the

Order includes no clear reference to the payment

of debts, unless the term "deal in" covers the point. Article 1(xvii)(e), which contained no

criminal sanction, does refer to payments.

(d) Article 1(xvii) contains no provisions requiring

debtors to report their obligations. A debtor can scarcely be said to have the "control or manage- ment" of the German national's claim against him.

Returns of debts of £50 and upwards were required by 5 and 6 Geo.5, c.79, s.2. The omission seems

significant.

(e) A debt may be due by a person residing in Hongkong,

but under the terms of the contract may be payable

in Germany or Holland. Does the incidence of the

charge depend on such considerations as these? (f) It would be extremely difficult to enforce the

charge in some of the cases mentioned in paragraph

2 above.

It must be remembered also that the firm which owes the debt or

the bank which holds the credit balance may be a branch of a

neutral firm or bank which has its head office elsewhere.

4. Another important question is as to whether the charge takes priority over, and so ousts, a previous mortgage charge or lien. The point has actually arisen in connection with bankers' liens claimed by British and non-British banke. In some cases the bank claims, under a particular contract, a charge for all

debts due to the bank by all branches of the German firm,

wherever situated. Certain banks also claim to assert a lien as

against advances made by their Hamburg branches under compulsion

by the German authorities during the war.

5. The following points relate to practical difficulties

rather than to legal difficulties of construction.

¥6. As the Clearing Office system deals only with debts

2

due

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