GENERAL MEMORANDUM
SIR W. E. L. SHENTON, KT.
ECONOMIC COMMISSION.
On the 13th July, 1934, His Excellency the Governor in Council, thought fit to appoint a Commission to enquire into the causes and effects of the present trade depression in Hongkong, and make recommendation for the amelioration of the existing position, and for the improvement of the trade of the Colony.
The terms of reference presuppose that a trade depression at present exists, and it is therefore necessary to consider the causes, effects and the remedies (if any).
The problem, in my opinion, should be dealt with from two aspects:-
(a) What circumstances have been responsible for the growth of prosperity of the Colony in the past.
(b) What are the possible causes of the present depression, and what steps (if any) can be taken to either remedy or improve them.
Before going into details, I desire to place on record that I have come to the decision that from what Hong- kong is mainly suffering is due to external circumstances over which the Colony has no control, and that the best policy is to leave matters as they now are and wait for the general improvement in world conditions, except that there might, with advantage, be a careful investi- gation with a view to some alleviation of taxation in respect of some of our basic industries which I particularly refer to hereafter, in order to make their
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