CO129-542-12 Smuggling from Hong Kong into China 21-1-1933 - 21-8-1933 — Page 138

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themselves to prevent the offence". The writers of

the letter could hardly have expected their words to

be taken literally.

5. The attitude adopted by Messrs. John Swire

and Sons Limited with regard to this matter appears

to me to be largely dictated by two considerations.

In the first place they hope to escape trouble with

their crews by placing on the Government the onus of

search for and confiscation of unmanifested cargo.

In the second place unless the search is undertaken

by police or other Government officials it will be

necessary for the companies to maintain a special

staff for the purpose which, unlike ships officers,

will be available in case of legal proceedings as

these will probably come on only after the departure

of the vessel. The companies state that they

cannot with trade in its present state afford to

maintain such a staff and wish to transfer all

expenditure to the shoulders of the Government.

6. I am not at present satisfied that the

Government would be justified in accepting such a

responsibility, apart from the question of cost which

in itself would be considerable. The Superintendent

of Imports and Exports has accordingly been instructed

to discuss the matter with the representatives of the

chief shipping companies on the basis that the discovery of unmanifested cargo is a matter for the

companies themselves but that the Government is

prepared to take all necessary action when once such

cargo