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During the whole period that this matter has been under consideration the Government, before taking each step, has sought the advice of the Vital Requirements Committee and Sub-Committee, consisting of Mr. Edkins, Mr. Anton and subsequently Mr Landale, Mr. Shewan, Mr. Dodwell, Mr. Lau Chu-pak, Mr. Young, and Mr. Sutherland. Mr. Fletcher has repre- sented the Government on this Counnittee."
15. The Hongkong Control Scheme came into operation on the 15th April, 1918, A number of tramps, whose and its great practical utility at once became apparent. movements were being directed by the opportunities for profit-making arising from the requisitioning of competing ships, were now made directly available for war purposes, to release and take the place of more sea-worthy vessels. It was possible at last to use all British tonnage in the Far East in the most economical way to meet pressing needs.
16. An account of some of the uses to which certain of the vessels were put may be of interest. The S.S. Wollowra had been carrying coal for the account of the Hongkong Government since December, 1917, and later the S.S. Telemachus, Rotorua, Ching Chow, and Patriot were used from time to time for a similar purpose. The first trip of the SS. Patriot was for account of the Naval Yard. The Government was thereby enabled to supply coal and coke to the Naval authorities whose requirements were considerable, and also to the Military Authorities and to various industries such as the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Hongkong Steel Foundry, Hong- kong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company, and the Hongkong Electric Company. It also supplied at a cheap rate 1,200 tons mouthly to the Chinese Section of the Kowloon- Canton Railway, without which that Section would have been unable to continue its service.
When, in the spring of 1918, arrangements were unexpectedly made by the Imperial Government to divert Dutch tonnage, and the trade in raw sugar hetween Java and Hongkong was in consequence completely dislocated, the S.S. Wollowra was despatched to Java and brought up a full cargo of sugar. The Government was also able to arrange for the Russian S.S. Vitim, not under its control, to bring sugar.
The Government of the Straits Settlements had in the meantime represented to the Hongkong Government the need for an increased output of tin for war purposes and had requested assistance in carrying Chinese labour to that Colony. It was possible to make arrangements to send coolies from Hongkong, but Singapore had quarantined the Colony on account of cerebro-spinal meningitis, and was unable to entertain a repre- sentation that the disease was understood to be quite as prevalent in Amoy and Swatow as it was in Hongkong. Consequently the S.S. Wollowera was placed on the Amoy, Singapore, Rangoon run, for the particular purpose of carrying coolies to Singapore, and also to carry on the normal traile with Rangoor.
The S.S. Haimun was taken up to carry coal for Admiralty account, but, as she was found to be unsuitable, she was despatched in June, 1918, to Amoy to carry coolies to Singapore. She remained on this run, and in August she was put on the trip Singapore, Hongkong, Amoy, Singapore the reason being that the Green Island Cement Company required tonnage to carry cement for Government works at l'enang, while the Government of the Straits Settlements required coolies, but would not allow them to come from In September Hongkong. Consequently the S.S. Haimun carried the cement cie Amoy the ship was diverted for a trip to Java to fetch sugar.
The S.S. Telemachus was taken off a charter bringing in Straits 8115,000 a month in order to carry coal for specified Hongkong industries. This coal came from the Kailan Mining Administration on whose behalf Colonel Thomson and the Admiralty had invoked the assistance of the Hongkong Government. The S.S. Patriot also carried the Kailan Administration coal. In November, 1918, she was detailed to bring rice from Saigon.
It was at the same time considered to be essential, in the interests of British trade and prestige, to keep as many as possible of the Hongkong controlled vessels on the regular coast runs, and in this connection the Government kept in view certain repre- sentations which had been made by His Majesty's Ministers at Peking and Bangkok, and also representations made by the Governor-General of Indo-China regarding the Saigon rice trade. The Douglas Company's ships, Haitan and Hai Hong, served the customary Coast ports throughout the requisition period, with the exception that the S.S. Ilai Hong was lent to the Naval Authorities for one voyage to carry reinforcements from the Manchester Regiment to Vladivostock. The steamers Castlefield, Manapouri, and Brisbane continued on their original charters within the usual coast trade limits, and such other vessels, as
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could from time to time be spared, were made available for the miscellaneous require- ments of the Coast which were normally served by a much larger number of ships. The S.S. Upolu continued to carry coal for the Kailan Mining Administration. Every ran was most carefully watched, sub-chartering was not permitted, and charters, while binding the charterer for a fixed period, reserved to the Hongkong Government the right to terminate the contract at a month's notice.
17. Although the Hongkong Control Scheme was proving of immense benefit to the Colony, the tonnage was not nearly sufficient to meet requirements, and every endeavour was made to supplement it. The SS. Glenfalloch, of Singapore Registry, was lying at the Taikoo Dockyard awaiting repairs, which the owners were unwilling to carry out, and the Hongkong Government asked permission of the Straits Settlements Government to repair the vessel and run her under the Hongkong Scheme, but that Government was unable to accept the proposal. The Government of the Straits Settlements were further approached, but without success, for permission for the S.S. Hock Lee and Will o' the Wisp to be run under the Hongkong Scheme. These vessels had been purchased by Hongkong owners but had remained on the Singapore Register. Colonel Thomson arranged for the placing of the S.S. Kolya at the disposal of the Hongkong Government for the purpose of carrying coal for the Naval Yard, but at the last moment the vessel could not be made available. Negotiations were entered into regarding the SS. Sui Kai under the Chinese flag, which had for a long time been lying idle in the har- bour owing to a complicated law-suit. An offer was made to repair and run the ship for the account of whoever might be concerned, but the vessel was so fast entangled in the meshes of the law that it was impossible to extricate her. An attempt was made to arrange for the salving at the expense of the Hongkong Government of a steamer which had been stranded on the Siberian coast, but the project was found to be impracticable. In August, 1918, three small and old British vessels, the Amherst, Cornelia, and Huk Canton, of 211, 214, and 288 tons register respectively, were requisitioned by the Naval Authorities and were placed under the orders of the Shipping Control Committee.
18. The relations between the longkong Government and the Shipowners were throughout of a most cordial nature, All owners co-operated in a must patriotic manner and did their utmost to make the Control Scheme work smoothly and successfully A Shipowners Protection Association was formed under the Chairmanship of Mr. S. T. Williamson, of Messrs. Moller and Company, and his services, placed freely at the disposal of the Government, were of the greatest assistance. There was one request pressed by the Association to which the Government could not see its way to accede. The Associa tion wished to be representeil upon the Shipping Control Committee, and this was refused, for the reason that the Committee had been chosen, as an independent body having connection with the requisitioned ships, to advise the Government on technical matters connected with the ships. Mr. Sutherland and Mr. Young sat as representatives of Colonel Thomson, Agent to the Shipping Controller, who was in constant communication with the Colony with regard to controlled ships. The Committee worked in close and constant touch with the Vital Requirements Committee, which advised as to the employ- ment of the ships for the needs of the Colony, and Mr. II. P. White, representing the controlled vessels of the Douglas Steamship Company, took his seat upon the latter body.
19. The question of the remuneration to be paid to owners was one of consi- derable difficulty. The Shipping Controller's instructions were that the remuneration was not to be appreciably higher or lower than that of competing vessels, the vessels most directly concerned being those of the Indo-China and China Navigation fleets. The Hongkong Government urged the Shipping Controller in London that in view of the increase in prices and the rise in exchange the remuneration should be payable at exchange hal 19 and ball rate of day. This was refused, it being again pointed out that the payments to owners under the local scheme must not be more favourable than payinents to owners under the Imperial scheme. Further representations were made in the following terms; – it must be remembered that the vessels brought under local requisi- tion are mostly old and in more or less bad condition, having been discarded, at periods more or less remote, from the regular lines; with the result that the cost of repair and upkeep is proportionately heavier than in the case of vessels, such as those of the Indo- China and China Navigation Companies, on the regular lines. I was aware, when I sent my telegram of the 9th March, that expenses connected with repairing and running were on owners' risk, if the owners were prepared to run the vessels; and, in order to offer the owners a sufficient inducement to do so, I accepted the advice of the Control Com- mittee to grant the terms stated in the telegram which I addressed to you on the 17th
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