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    {
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        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-442 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [4-6]",
        "page_number": 197,
        "title": "CO129-442 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [4-6]",
        "content_text": "HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL\n\nthe unofficial members of the Legislative Council has been defeated by the vote of the official members. Such report contains, where necessary, a statement explanatory of the reason for the official vote. A search through the Hansard reports of a number of years shows that there have been one or two exceptions, as, for instance, at the following pages: 1907, page 38; 1911, page 117; 1911, page 235; 1912, page 102,\n\nIt is intended that the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank, and all other immovable property in the Colony of Hongkong belonging to German firms which are being wound up under the Alien Enemies (Winding-up) Ordinances, 1914 to 1917, shall be sold by public auction within the course of the next 4 months.\n\nIt is proposed that all the sales shall be advertised for a period of 3 months, and that the sale of the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank shall also be readvertised for that period. If the latter property were sold at a few days' notice intending purchasers might be greatly inconvenienced and embarrassed, as they may have to obtain instructions from the United Kingdom or elsewhere.\n\nReturn of the Germans\n\nHON. MR. P. H. HOLYOAK, in accordance with notice of motion, moved the following resolution:\n\n\"It is the opinion of this Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hongkong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least 10 years following the declaration of peace; and that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict licence.\"\n\nIn doing so he said:- Sir, -I rise to make the following motion standing in my name:\n\n\"It is the opinion of the Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hongkong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least ten years following the declaration of Peace; and that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict Licence.\"\n\nIn speaking to the motion, and because I am most anxious to avoid anything in the nature of exaggeration on so important and far-reaching a matter as this, I crave the indulgence of your Excellency and this Council if I make rather free reference to notes.\n\nAt the outset, I would say that we do not presume to dictate to the Home Government on a question which affects all parts of our wide-flung Empire, but, it is only a few days since your Excellency called attention in a meeting of the Legislative Council to the not wholly unworthy efforts of this Colony to help the Motherland in her hour of need in one way or another, and We contend that these and our large annual military contribution entitle us, at any rate, to indicate our wishes to the Home Government, and, with all deference, I believe that such a pronouncement will be welcomed by them for guidance when the whole question comes up for decision.\n\nAustralia, Canada and New Zealand have, I believe, already indicated their wishes in no uncertain manner, and Hongkong with its great commercial interests surely cannot be excluded, especially when it is remembered that at the forthcoming Imperial Conference, whilst the Dominions have their own representatives, Hongkong, with other Crown Colonies, will be represented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. It is noteworthy that in recent speeches made by prominent world politicians an attempt is made to draw a line of demarcation between the German Government and the German people, and directly peace has been declared we shall, there is only too much cause to fear that there will be on all sides that it was the Prussians who made the war and that we have no quarrel with the peaceful Teutons.\n\nSir, the spirit which on the outbreak of war led to the disgraceful attacks in Berlin upon the Russian, French, and, especially, the British Embassies and compelled our Ambassador to slink out of Berlin in the grey dawn, just as his party was attacked on departure; to the invasion of Belgium, with its attendant cold-blooded atrocities, as \"Military necessity\" in defiance of sacred neutralities; and, later, to the murder of women and children on land and sea whilst German officers and men looked on and jeered; and, later still, to the starvation and torture of wounded and helpless prisoners-of-war--this spirit is not the product of the war, but is the Prussian spirit which permeates the whole German nation-man, woman and child and which will take years to eradicate, and we say that the people who can rejoice over nameless crimes, such as these, who revel in the pernicious doctrine that \"might is right\" and that necessity justifies any crime, however damnable in the eyes of the world it may be, and who can celebrate such an atrocious act as the sinking of the Lusitania by declaring a public school holiday, to say nothing of the deliberate murder of Edith Cavell and Captain Fryatt and countless other horrors, are not fit to be received hereafter into the brotherhood of Nations until they have expiated their crimes against God and civilization and truly reformed their ways.\n\nSpeaking for the Mercantile Community of Hongkong, which has by far the largest stake in the Colony, I say that we have no desire to be -indeed, that we will not be, if it can be avoided-associated in this Colony, either socially or commercially, with men and women who thus far have failed to realize what honour, justice and mercy mean, who acknowledge neither International obligations nor treaty unless they stand to gain by doing so, and in whose nature there is no chord which vibrates to the claims of either.\n\nA close study of the causes which led up to this terrible war and of Germany's deliberate acts thus far will convince anyone who is not blind to the truth that they are the inevitable result of the pernicious teaching of her professors and philosophers during the last two decades, and of the military and naval ambitions which were fostered by her rulers -the present Armageddon was the climax.\n\nBeyond all this, and as an argument which more particularly affects the welfare of Hongkong, I have no hesitation in saying that the results of the German liquidations have abundantly proved that we are better without the Germans in trade, and that the vast business they created to our disadvantage was the result of a most pernicious credit system which did infinite harm to the Colony and which, when the Germans were interned, left an aftermath of evil in the shape of huge accumulations of stocks, which the market could not possibly digest and which took months of weary efforts to disperse, whilst British trade languished in proportion and is still doing so.\n\nWith the internment of our enemies, the trade of the port, by common consent, and thanks to the energy of the Chamber of Commerce, was once more placed upon a cash basis. I will not weary you with concrete examples, but I say, unhesitatingly and without fear of contradiction, that the trade of the Colony is to-day in a healthier state than for years past, and in the name of British trade interests I plead with you that Germans shall not be allowed to return to the Colony for at least ten years to recommence their \"Prussian tactics in trade\" which did the Colony so much injury in the past.\n\nFurther, I cannot help feeling that we have delayed too long in giving China a lead in this connection, and that bold declaration of our views may strengthen her own and inspire her to join the Allies whole-heartedly in declaring war upon the enemies of progress and induce her to intern or banish those within her boundaries; the more so when she recalls the fact that this same Prussian spirit unblushingly reveals itself in the Kaiser's instructions to his troops during the Boxer Rebellion to show no quarter and to teach the Chinese the might of Germany's military fist and never to look askance at a German, and which is commemorated by the Ketteler memorial in Peking.\n\nIn conclusion, and lest it be urged that we have overlooked possible German competition from new centres to the detriment of Hongkong, let it be said that, while we recognize such competition may arise, we are convinced it can be successfully met and are prepared to face it, especially when it is remembered that German firms are unlikely for years to come to receive the great assistance they did from British banks and discount houses in London in pre-war days and, I hope, will never do again.\n\nFinally, I would remind you that the views I have endeavoured, however incompetently, to set forth are unitedly shared and endorsed by the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, which, at a recent meeting specially convened to consider the whole matter, unanimously\n\nPage 83\n\n...\n\nPage 195",
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    {
        "id": 468444,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]",
        "page_number": 207,
        "title": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]",
        "content_text": "The COLONIAL SECRETARY replied as follows:-It is the general practice to report specially to the Secretary of State for the Colonies a case in which the unanimous or nearly unanimous vote of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council has been defeated by the vote of the official members. Such reports contain, where necessary, a statement explanatory of the reason for the official vote. A search through the Hansard reports of a number of years shows that there have been one or two exceptions, as, for instance, at the following pages:-1907 page 38; 1911, page 117; 1911, page 285; 1912, page 102.\n\nIt is intended that the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank and all other immovable property in the Colony of Hong-kong belonging to German firms which are being wound up under the Alien Enemies (Winding-up) Ordinances, 1914 to 1917, shall be sold by public auction within the course of the next 4 months.\n\nIt is proposed that all the sales shall be advertised for a period of 3 months, and that the sale of the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank shall also be readvertised for that period. If the latter property were sold at a few days' notice intending purchasers might be greatly inconvenienced and embarrassed, as they may have to obtain instructions from United Kingdom or elsewhere.\n\nRETURN OF THE GERMANS.\n\nHon. Mr. P. H. HOLYOAK, in accordance with notice of motion, moved the following resolution :-\n\n\"It is the opinion of this Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hongkong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least 10 years following the declaration of peace; and that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict licence.\"\n\nIn doing so he said-Sir, I rise to make the following motion standing in my name :-\n\n\"It is the opinion of the Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hong-kong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least ten years following the declaration of Peace; and, that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict licence.\"\n\nIn speaking to the motion, and because I am most anxious to avoid anything in the nature of exaggeration on so important and far-reaching a matter as this, I crave the indulgence of your Excellency and the Council if I make rather free reference to notes.\n\nAt the outset, I would say that we do not presume to dictate to the Home Government on a question which affects all parts of our wide-flung Empire, but, it is only a few days since your Excellency called attention in a meeting of the Legislative Council to the not wholly unworthy efforts of this Colony to help the Motherland in her hour of need in one way or another, and we contend that these and our large annual military contribution entitle us, at any rate, to indicate our wishes to the Home Government, and, with all deference, I believe that such a pronouncement will be welcomed by them for guidance when the whole question comes up for decision.\n\nAustralia, Canada and New Zealand have, I believe, already indicated their wishes in no uncertain manner, and Hongkong with its great commercial interests surely cannot be excluded, especially when it is remembered that at the forthcoming Imperial Conference whilst the Dominions have their own representatives, Hongkong, with other Crown Colonies, will be represented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies.\n\nIt is noteworthy that in recent speeches made by prominent world politicians an attempt is made to draw a line of demarcation between the German Government and the German people, and there is only too much cause to fear that directly peace has been declared we shall hear on all sides that it was the Prussians who made the war and that we have no quarrel with the peaceful Germans.\n\nSir, the spirit which on the outbreak of war led to the disgraceful attacks in Berlin upon the Russian, French, and especially the British Embassies and compelled our Ambassador to slink out of Berlin in the grey dawn, lost his party being attacked on departure; to the invasion of Belgium, with its attendant cold-blooded atrocities, as \"Military necessity\" in defiance of sacred treaties: and later, to the murder of women and children on land and sea whilst German officers and men looked on and jeered; and, later still, to the starvation and torture of wounded and helpless prisoners-of-war-this spirit is not the product of the war, but is the Prussian spirit which permeates the whole German nation-man, woman and child-and which will take years to eradicate, and we say that the people who can rejoice over nameless crimes, such as these, who revel in the pernicious doctrine that \"might is right\" and that necessity justifies any crime, however damnable in the eyes of the world it may be, and who can celebrate such an atrocious act as the sinking of the Lusitania by declaring a public school holiday, to say nothing of the deliberate murder of Edith Cavell and Captain Fryatt and countless other horrors, are not fit to be received hereafter into the brotherhood of Nations until they have expiated their crimes against God and civilization and truly reformed their ways.\n\nSpeaking for the Mercantile Community of Hongkong, which has by far the largest stake in the Colony, I say that we have no desire to be-indeed, that we will not be, if it can be avoided-associated in this Colony, either socially or commercially, with men and women who thus failed to realize what honour, justice and mercy mean, who acknowledge neither International obligations nor treaty unless they stand to gain by doing so, and in whose nature there is no chord which vibrates to the claims of either.\n\nA close study of the causes which led up to this terrible war and of Germany's deliberate acts thus far will convince anyone who is not blind to the truth that they are the inevitable result of the pernicious teaching of her professors and philosophers during the last two decades, and of the military and naval ambitions which were fostered by her rulers till the present Armageddon was the climax. Beyond all this and as an argument which more particularly affects the welfare of Hong-kong, I have no hesitation in saying that the results of the German liquidations have abundantly proved that we are better without the Germans in trade, and that the vast business they created to our disadvantage was the result of most pernicious credit system which did infinite harm to the Colony and which, when the Germans were interned, left an aftermath of evil in the shape of huge accumulations of stocks, which the market could not possibly digest and which took months of weary efforts to disperse, whilst British trade languished in proportion and is still doing so.\n\nWith the internment of our enemies, the trade of the port, by common consent, and thanks to the energy of the Chamber of Commerce, was once more placed upon a sound basis. I will not weary you with concrete examples, but I say, unhesitatingly and without fear of contradiction, that the trade of the Colony is to-day in a healthier state than for years past, and in the name of British trade interests I plead with you that Germans shall not be allowed to return to the Colony for at least ten years to recommence their \"Prussian tactics\" in trade which did the Colony so much injury in the past.\n\nFurther, I cannot help feeling that we have delayed too long in giving China a lead in this connection, and that a bold declaration of our views may strengthen her own and inspire her to join the Allies whole-heartedly in declaring war upon the enemies of progress and induce her to intern or banish those within her boundaries; the more so when she recalls the fact that this same Prussian spirit unblushingly reveals itself in the Kaiser's instructions to his troops during the Boxer Rebellion \"to show no quarter and to teach the Chinese the might of Germany's military fist and never to look askance at a German, and which is commemorated by the Ketteler Memorial\" in Peking.\n\nIn conclusion, and lest it be urged that we have overlooked possible German competition from new centres to the detriment of Hong-kong, let it be said that, while we recognize such competition may arise, we are convinced it can be successfully met and are prepared to face it, especially when it is remembered that German firms are unlikely for years to come to receive the great assistance they did from British banks and discount houses in London in pre-war days and, I hope, will never do again.\n\nFinally, I would remind you that the views I have endeavoured, however incompetently, to set forth are unitedly shared and endorsed by the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, which, at a recent meeting specially convened to consider the whole matter, unanimously adopted the identical motion on which I am now addressing you. The composition of this Committee is so well known to your Excellency and this Council that I am certain its carefully considered opinion will not fail to carry the weight it deserves with the Secretary of State for the Colonies.\n\nHon. Mr. C. E. ANTON-Sir, I beg to second the motion. The proposer of the motion has gone so very largely over the ground that I think it is not necessary for me to go into...",
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    {
        "id": 468451,
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        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]",
        "page_number": 214,
        "title": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]",
        "content_text": "204\n\n20\n\nfound in this. First of all, we almost all of us agree on the question of sentiment. (Applause) Upon that I shall dwell later, because it is, of necessity, an important part of our case. Secondly, we were told by my hon. friend, the Hon. Dr. Lau Chu Pak—and this was the sum and substance of his argument, as far as I understand it, for China or for the Chinese subjects here—that the time is inopportune. And, lastly, we have been told that it is impracticable, and that we have not dealt fully with the economic reasons which are inevitably bound up with it. Now, gentlemen, I propose briefly, and as far as lies in my humble power, to deal with those three points of view before putting this resolution.\n\nI said in the Chamber that you cannot avoid the question of sentiment in viewing the aftermath of this war, and there I feel that I am upon certain and incontrovertible ground. (Applause.) It is not in the name of things for those of us who have already been touched by the war, by personal loss or the loss of relatives, and those who will be so touched before the end of the war, to forget it for many years to come. (Applause.) Neither can we forget the manner in which some of them died—the atrocities which brought their end, the agonising death-struggle through gassing, the wholesale murder by the sinking of unarmed and defenceless ships, the hurling of shells through Zeppelin raids upon the undefended coast and the interior towns of England where women and children were shattered mercilessly, the murder of Edith Cavell, and the assassination of Captain Fryatt, which the men of the mercantile marine are not likely to forget for many years to come. And, mark you, if we do not support this resolution we are practically telling these men that we are going to welcome back with open arms the murderers of their comrades in the mercantile marine. (Applause.) There are the Belgian atrocities, which occurred in the opening events of this war, right down to the last and most horrible of all—the sinking of hospital ships with defenceless and maimed creatures on board going to a place of refuge. These are horrors which cannot be forgotten for many years to come. (Hear, hear)\n\nI want to try and prove to you that this German characteristic of brutality is so interwoven by education in the German people that you will not eradicate it, even though they are defeated, for many years to come. Let me quote to you words in support of this, which were uttered not many weeks ago and within the confines of this building by an eminent American professor who is well qualified to speak as a student of international history. These are the words he uttered—Speaking of the arguments of Frederick the Great,\n\n— designed for the political instruction of the Hohenzollern dynasty, he said:—“Here we have the beginnings of that which has led to all that has happened since.” I quote it to you.\n\n“If a ruler is obliged to sacrifice his own person for the welfare of his subjects, he is all the more obliged to sacrifice treaty engagements, the continuance of which would be harmful to his country. Is it better that a nation should perish, or that a Sovereign should break his treaty?\n\n“Do not be ashamed of making interested alliances from which you yourself can derive the whole advantage. Do not make the foolish mistake of not breaking them when you believe your interests require it.\n\n“When he is about to conclude a treaty with some foreign Power, if a Sovereign remembers he is a Christian, he is lost.\n\n“These words represented the sowing. A century and a half later Nietzsche wove the gospel of force into a sort of system, this doctrine being the doctrine of the superman and the inalienable right of the giant to act as a giant; of the strong to dominate the weak; of the powerful to overwhelm and trample upon the powerless. Then came the great historian, von Treitschke, breathing the philosophy of force into the very soul of Germany. ‘Why talk of founding colonies?’ he said. ‘Let us take Holland, then we shall have them ready-made.’ Then came Bernhardi, frank expounder of the same philosophy, soldier and military strategist, and in his book, Germany in the Next War, presented, in all its ugly brutality, the philosophy of force. Germany may explain the Lusitania, the Ancona, she may explain the Gulf Light, the Persia, the Sussex and the Yasaka Maru. She may indemnify without apologizing. She may apologize without indemnifying. The marvellous richness of the German tongue will never enable her to justify her presence in Belgium, or those tiny corpses now forever entombed in the iron coffin of the Lusitania. For this generation, the word Kultur, like Pompey's statue, drips with blood.” (Applause.)\n\nBut even now, gentlemen, that spirit has been so breathed into the very soul of the people, as it has been explained there, that it is part and parcel of their national attitude of mind, and I say that for many years to come it will not be eradicated. It was shown most clearly when the Lusitania was sunk. A public school holiday was given throughout Germany, at which the Hymn of Hate, among other things, was sung. This is one of the verses of the Hymn of Hate:—\n\n“You we hate with a lasting hate. We will never forgo our hate. Hate by water, and hate by land. Hate of the head and hate of the hand. Hate of the hammer and hate of the crown. Hate of seventy millions choking down; We love as one, we hate as one, We have one foe, and one alone—\n\nENGLAND!” Gentlemen, whatever may happen as the result of this war—and we believe we are about to enter the beginning of the final stage of the struggle, I do not say victory is in sight, but the beginning of the end is a result of this war, approaching it, as Germany is brought to her knees and the Prussian spirit is crushed forever, I pledge my word to you that it will be remembered by the German people for all time that it was England who stopped them getting into Paris. Yet you are asked to admit these people within the bounds of the Colony, remembering that this hate is there and that it will not be forgotten by them, any more than by us, for many years to come. (Applause.)\n\nI shall probably be told in the papers to-morrow that this is a policy of retaliation, and that it cannot be defended upon any Christian ground whatsoever. I have no hesitation in saying that it is not a policy of retaliation; it is just retribution. (Loud applause.) So much, gentlemen, for the question of sentiment, which cannot be excluded from this argument, say what you will.\n\nIn reply to the argument that the time is inopportune—which, after all, is the policy of “wait and see” which wrecked the Asquith War Cabinet—I contend that unpreparedness and inefficiency brought us within deadly peril of defeat, and blindly to shut our eyes to the future and say we cannot now decide questions which affect the vast war issues is to admit practically the same fault which has been charged against Great Britain over and over again by her very foes. (Applause.) And I say it is here and now, before the war comes to a definite issue, this Colony, jointly with other Colonies which have already raised their voices, should declare in no uncertain manner that, if it be in the Empire's interests, we will not have the Germans back. (Applause.)\n\nI have said clearly that we do not seek to dictate—nor do we to the Imperial authorities. All this meeting seeks to do, and all that I have striven to do up to now, is that the voice of this Colony might be represented at the debate which must inevitably take place as to the post-war policy of the Allies. (Applause.) It would be presumption and folly to say that this Colony alone should exclude Germans. If it were decided that, for the benefit of the Empire as a whole, they should be allowed to re-enter the Colonies and our great possessions, Hongkong would not be backward in admitting them if told to do so in the interests of the Empire, though we certainly would not welcome them. (Applause.)\n\nNow, gentlemen, I come to the question which, after all, is the most important of all. I have been charged in anonymous letters and elsewhere with not dealing fully with the question of the practicability, or impracticability, of this suggestion. I contend, with the Hon. Mr. Anton, that it is not merely a question of pounds, shillings and pence, and we owe it to those who are fighting that we should be prepared to make sacrifices, if necessary, both in recognition of what they have done for us, and because, ultimately, we believe, it will be for the national welfare. (Applause.) But I contend, also, that it would be directly to the benefit of the Colony that we should exclude Germans from re-entry into our port for a period of years. (Applause.)\n\nGentlemen, at the outbreak of war the liquidations proved that there was no less than $10,000,000 worth of goods, to say the very least, revolving in credit, which had passed out of the control of the merchant—in some cases remaining still in Hongkong, though in the hands of the Chinese dealer; and, in other cases, already passed up country—and these were all out on credit, and had not been paid for. One of the greatest difficulties the liquidators had to deal with was to obtain the money due for these goods, which had been delivered on credit terms, and, in some cases, on very long credit terms.\n\nNow I contend that this $10,000,000 worth of trade was very largely over-trading, and therefore unsound trading, and the proof of that is that this Colony has been suffering from it for nearly two and a half years and is only just beginning to recover from it. And, at the risk of wearying you, I want to argue this point a little more definitely, because the papers were not clear in their statements with regard to the Chamber of Commerce meeting at which I dwelt upon this very point.\n\nIt was no uncommon thing for a Lancashire traveller, representing a Lancashire manufacturer or Manchester middleman, to come to this Colony during periods of intense trade depression, when the merchants were absolutely unable to do any trade whatsoever, because business was practically stagnant, and for us to hear of very large orders being placed with the travellers who visited the Colony. The explanation of that was this. The goods were sold on credit and they were often sold very much below the market. They were identical with goods, in some cases, which had been imported and were really lying ready for sale, for spot cash, in godowns in Hongkong, and could have been sold...\n\n21-",
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        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917",
        "page_number": 490,
        "title": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917",
        "content_text": "The COLONIAL SECRETARY replied as follows:\n\nIt is the general practice to report specially to the Secretary of State for the Colonies a case in which the unanimous or nearly unanimous vote of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council has been defeated by the vote of the official members. Such reports contain, where necessary, a statement explanatory of the reason for the official vote. A search through the Hansard reports of a number of years shows that there have been one or two exceptions, as, for instance, at the following pages:- 1907, page 38; 1911, page 117; 1911, page 235; 1912, page 102.\n\nIt is intended that the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank, and all other immovable property in the Colony of Hongkong belonging to German firms which are being wound up under the Alien Enemies (Winding-up) Ordinances, 1914 to 1917, shall be sold by public auction within the course of the next 4 months.\n\nIt is proposed that all the sales shall be advertised for a period of 3 months, and that the sale of the premises of the Deutsche Asiatische Bank shall also be readvertised for that period. If the latter property were sold at a few days' notice, intending purchasers might be greatly inconvenienced and embarrassed, as they may have to obtain instructions from the United Kingdom or elsewhere.\n\nRETURN OF THE GERMANS.\n\nHon. Mr. P. H. HOLYOAK, in accordance with notice of motion, moved the following resolution:\n\n\"It is the opinion of this Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hongkong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least 10 years following the declaration of peace; and that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict licence.\"\n\nIn doing so, he said: Sir, I rise to make the following motion standing in my name:\n\n\"It is the opinion of the Council that it is in the best interest of the Colony of Hongkong that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a period of at least ten years following the declaration of Peace; and that, subsequently, they be only admitted into the Colony under strict Licence.\"\n\nIn speaking to the motion, and because I am most anxious to avoid anything in the nature of exaggeration on so important and far-reaching a matter as this, I crave the indulgence of your Excellency and this Council if I make rather free reference to notes.\n\nAt the outset, I would say that we do not presume to dictate to the Home Government on a question which affects all parts of our wide-flung Empire, but it is only a few days since your Excellency called attention in a meeting of the Legislative Council to the not wholly unworthy efforts of this Colony to help the Motherland in her hour of need, and that our large annual military contribution entitles us, at any rate, to indicate our wishes to the Home Government, and, with all deference, I believe that such a pronouncement will be welcomed by them for guidance when the whole question comes up for decision.\n\nAustralia, Canada, and New Zealand have, I believe, already indicated their wishes in no uncertain manner. Hongkong, with its great commercial interests, surely cannot be excluded, especially when it is remembered that at the forthcoming Imperial Conference, whilst the Dominions have their own representatives, Hongkong, with other Crown Colonies, will be represented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies.\n\nIt is noteworthy that in recent speeches made by prominent world politicians, an attempt is made to draw a line of demarcation between the German Government and the German people, and there is only too much cause to fear that directly peace has been declared, we shall hear on all sides that it was the Prussians who made the war and that we have no quarrel with the peaceful Teutons.\n\nSir, the spirit which on the outbreak of war led to the disgraceful attacks in Berlin upon the Russian, French, and, especially, the British Embassies, and compelled our Ambassador to slink out of Berlin in the grey dawn, lest his party be attacked ere departure; to the invasion of Belgium, with its attendant atrocities, as \"a Military Necessity\" in defiance of treaties; and, later, to the murder of women and children on land and sea, whilst German officers and men looked on and jeered; and, later still, to the starvation and torture of wounded and helpless prisoners-of-war - this spirit is not the product of the war, but is the Prussian spirit which permeates the whole German nation - man, woman, and child - and which will take years to eradicate.\n\nWe say that the people who can rejoice over nameless crimes, such as these, who revel in the pernicious doctrine that \"might is right\" and that necessity justifies any crime, however damnable in the eyes of the world it may be, and who can celebrate such an atrocious act as the sinking of the Lusitania by declaring a public school holiday, to say nothing of the deliberate murder of Edith Cavell and Captain Fryatt and countless other horrors, are not fit to be received hereafter into the brotherhood of Nations until they have expiated their crimes against God and civilization and truly reformed their ways.\n\nSpeaking for the Mercantile Community of Hongkong, which has by far the largest stake in the Colony, I say that we have no desire to be, indeed, that we will not be, if it can be avoided - associated in this Colony, either socially or commercially, with men and women who thus far have failed to realize what honour, justice, and mercy mean, who acknowledge neither International obligations nor treaty unless they stand to gain by doing so, and in whose nature there is no chord which vibrates to the claims of either.\n\nA close study of the causes which led up to this terrible war and of Germany's deliberate acts thus far will convince anyone who is not blind to the truth that they are the inevitable result of the pernicious teaching of her professors and philosophers during the last two decades, and of the military and naval ambitions which were fostered by her rulers till the present Armageddon was the climax.\n\nBeyond all this, and as an argument which more particularly affects the welfare of Hongkong, I have no hesitation in saying that the results of the German liquidations have abundantly proved that we are better without the Germans in trade, and that the vast business they created to our disadvantage was the result of a most pernicious credit system which did infinite harm to the Colony and which, when the Germans were interned, left an aftermath of evil in the shape of huge accumulations of stocks, which the market could not possibly digest and which took months of weary efforts to disperse, whilst British trade languished in proportion and is still doing so.\n\nWith the internment of our enemies, the trade of the port, by common consent, and thanks to the energy of the Chamber of Commerce, was once more placed upon a cash basis. I will not weary you with concrete examples, but I say, unhesitatingly and without fear of contradiction, that the trade of the Colony is to-day in a healthier state than for years past, and in the name of British trade interests, I plead with you that Germans shall not be allowed to return to the Colony for at least ten years to recommence their Prussian tactics in trade which did the Colony so much injury in the past.\n\nFurther, I cannot help feeling that we have delayed too long in giving China a lead in this connection, and that a bold declaration of our views may strengthen her own and inspire her to join the Allies whole-heartedly in declaring war upon the enemies of progress and induce her to intern or banish those within her boundaries; the more so when she recalls the fact that this same Prussian spirit unblushingly reveals itself in the Kaiser's instructions to his troops during the Boxer Rebellion \"to show no quarter and to teach the Chinese the might of Germany's military fist\" and never to look askance at a German, and which is commemorated by the Ketteler memorial in Peking.\n\nIn conclusion, and lest it be urged that we have overlooked possible German competition from new centres to the detriment of Hongkong, let it be said that, while we recognize such competition may arise, we are convinced it can be successfully met and are prepared to face it, especially when it is remembered that German firms are unlikely for years to come to receive the great assistance they did from British banks and discount houses in London in pre-war days and, I hope, will never do again.\n\n485",
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    {
        "id": 469624,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917",
        "page_number": 498,
        "title": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917",
        "content_text": "CROWDED PUBLIC MEETING AT THEATRE ROYAL.\n\nTHE RESOLUTION CARRIED WITH ONLY TWO DISSENTIENTS.\n\nA crowded and enthusiastic public meeting was held at the Theatre Royal, Hong Kong, on April 20th, with the democratic object of giving everybody an opportunity of expressing his views on the question of excluding Germans from the Colony after the war. The meeting was presided over by Mr. H. P. White, who was supported on the platform by the Hon. Mr. P. H. Holyoak (Chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce and representative of the Chamber on the Legislative Council), and the Hon. Mr. H. E. Pollock, K.C. (representative of the Justices of the Peace on the Legislative Council).\n\nThe Chairman and the gentlemen supporting him were greeted with loud and prolonged applause when they appeared upon the stage to take their seats.\n\nThe CHAIRMAN, who was given a rousing reception, said: Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting has been called in response to a widely-expressed wish that the commercial public of Hong Kong, outside of the Chamber of Commerce, should be given an opportunity of expressing their views in regard to the exclusion of Germans from the Colony for a prescribed period after the conclusion of the war. We all realise and recognise that this question is one of Imperial policy, and as such, it will ultimately be determined by the Imperial Government, which, no doubt, will be guided in arriving at a decision by the attitude adopted by the Allied and other Powers. All we maintain is that the commercial community of this Colony has an undoubted right to express its opinion on the question at issue (applause) and that its views should be transmitted through the proper channels to those at Home who will represent the Colony at the Imperial Conference when the time for doing so has arrived. (Applause.) I now call upon the Hon. Mr. P. H. Holyoak to propose a resolution, which will be open for discussion after it has been seconded, and I ask, gentlemen, that the discussion shall be allowed to proceed without undue heat, and that tolerance may be shown towards those who may express views which do not coincide with our own.\n\n(Applause.)\n\nThe Hon. Mr. P. H. HOLYOAK was accorded a great ovation when he rose to address the meeting. He said:-Gentlemen, I have brought this resolution before you at a public meeting because I was inundated with letters and telephonic messages and enquiries as to whether the general public of Hong Kong could attend the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, and I was obliged to say \"I am afraid you can neither attend, nor can you vote if you attend, because you are not qualified to do so, and because the building's capacity will not allow you to attend.\"\n\nAnd in every case, the only reply was \"you arrange a public meeting so that we can have a voice.\" That is why I have ventured to call you together this evening, and I am confident that you will endorse the resolution which I am going to put before you. (Applause.) The resolution which I have to propose is:-\n\nThat it is the opinion of this meeting that it is in the best interests of the Colony that persons of German nationality should be excluded therefrom for a prescribed period of years following the declaration of peace, and that subsequently they be only admitted to the Colony under strict licence.\n\nNow, gentlemen, you will notice a very slight difference between the terms of this resolution and that which was adopted by the Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber resolution, as you know, we had the words \"for a period of ten years,\" and, in speaking to that resolution in the Chamber, I said that the term ten years was a purely academic term, and when I said that I meant that the Chamber does not really care whether it is for ten years or for ever-(applause)-or whether it may seem wiser to the Imperial powers, to whom all these questions must be referred, that it shall be for a period of shorter duration.\n\nBut we are determined that whatever duration it shall be for, they shall never come back except upon terms by which we can control them. (Applause.) Now, gentlemen, the opposition, as far as I can follow it in the discussions which have taken place, and in the various letters, anonymous and otherwise, which have passed through the papers-in a word, the bulk of the important part of the opposition to our resolution-is to be found in this. First of all, we almost all of us agree on the question of sentiment. (Applause.) I shall dwell later on that, because it is, of necessity, an important part of our case. Secondly, we were told by my hon. friend, the Hon. Mr. Lau Chu Pak-and this was the sum and substance of his argument, as far as I understand it, for China or for the Chinese subjects here-that the time is inopportune. And, lastly, we have been told that it is impracticable, and that we have not dealt fully with the economic reasons which are inevitably bound up with it.\n\nNow, gentlemen, I propose briefly, and as far as lies in my humble power, to deal with those three points of view before putting this resolution. I said to the Chamber that you cannot avoid the question of sentiment in viewing the aftermath of this war, and there I feel that I am upon certain and incontrovertible ground. (Applause.) It is not in the nature of things for those of us who have already been touched by the war, by personal loss or the loss of relatives, and those who will be so touched before the end of the war, to forget it for many years to come. (Applause.) Neither can we forget the manner in which some of them died-the atrocities which brought their end, the agonising death-struggle through gassing, the wholesale murder by the sinking of unarmed and defenceless ships, the hurling of shells through Zeppelin raids upon the undefended coast and the interior towns of England where women and children were slaughtered mercilessly, the murder of Edith Cavell, and the assassination of Captain Fryatt, which the men of the mercantile marine are likely to forget for many years to come.\n\nIf a ruler is obliged to sacrifice his own person for the welfare of his subjects, he is all the more obliged to sacrifice treaty engagements, the continuance of which would be harmful to his country. Is it better that a nation should perish, or that a Sovereign should break his treaty?\n\n\"Do not be ashamed of making alliances from which you yourself can derive the whole advantage. Do not make the foolish mistake of not breaking them when you believe your interests require it.\n\nWhen he is about to conclude a treaty with some foreign Power, if a Sovereign remembers he is a Christian, he is lost.\n\nThese words represented the sowing. A century and a half later Nietzsche wove the gospel of force into a sort of system,",
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