CO129-590-14 Newsletters from Sir Geoffrey Northcote- Governor of Hong Kong 21-4-1941 - 24-11-1941 — Page 22

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

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alone

(ii) What is troubling us most at the present

time over rice is its high cost, apart from

the fact that we may have to go as far as

Burma for it. This is due partly to very

high freights and partly to scandalous

profiteering on the part of the distributing

trade. Before you get this letter probably

you will have had final proposals from me

advocating that Government become sole

importer of rice. I hope that it will be

possible to avoid Government becoming also

the sole distributor, as we should find

ourselves coming into conflict with a very

powerful body in that case: but I am not

over-sanguine on that score.

Sis

Tunnels and Shelters.

Except for the deplorable damage done to

my house by the tunnels made beneath it, these

are satisfactory and there are quite a number

of shelters built also. I have been into

several of the existing tunnels, and given

that the Special Constabulary, who will have

to manage their would-be users, 'turn out

trumps', I believe that they will serve the ir

purpose. But if Japanese bombers catch the

populace outside, struggling for entry, God help

it!

Police, Special Constabulary, etc.

The peace-time Police Force consists, as

you know, of the Regular Police and the Police

Reserve, numbering respectively 2,500 and 1,500.

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