CO129-571-8 Sino-Japanese War- fuel storage 10-1-1938 - 9-3-1938 — Page 22

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Dear Cowell,

spare.

GOVERN ME NT HOUSE, HONG KONG.

January 12th, 1938.

You may have wondered why I sent you the telegram

about the Chinese Government's stocks of gasoline (my No.12 of

the 10th January). The fact is that the

local Manager of the

Asiatic Petroleum Company came to me that morning, gave me

these facts and wanted me to say so me thing which would enable

him to argue back to his Company in London, hoping to be able

to persuade them to revoke their cabled prohibition against

storage on their premises of the Chinese-owned gasoline in

drums.

However I declined to say anything of the kind,

partly because, as I told him, I thought that the view taken by

the Company in London was quite reasonable and partly because

judging by the terms of the Company's telegram from London it

looked as though there had been some consultation between the

Company's officials and the Foreign or Colonial Office and on

that latter chance I tele graphed the information.

The same gasoline gave rise a little while ago to

the question of the payment of duty, the ordinary procedure being

to pay duty on importation and to receive back the bulk of the

amount paid as a drawback on re-exportation. The importers tried

to get this Government to waive payment, being very short of

capital, but I was unable to agree. Subsequently the Hong Kong &

Shanghai Bank came to the ir rescue and the duty was paid down in

the ordinary course.

I hope that we are going to get an answer so on from

you about the use of the road between the border and Canton. Cars

are still using this road and of course without any official warning

of the dangers that be set them.

H.R.COWELL, ESQ., C.M.G.,

COLONIAL OFFICE.

Yours sincerely,

At. kontin

fat.