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THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, MARCH 1, 1935.

Declaration under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1899, Ordinance No. 10

of 1899, Table L, Quarantine Regulations, dated 25th January, 1935. Amendment made by the Governor in Council to Regulation 12 in Part I of Table C in the Schedule of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1899, Ordinance No. 10 of 1899, dated 6th February, 1935.

Regulation made by the Governor in Council under section 36 of the Liquors Ordinance, 1931, Ordinance No. 36 of 1931, amending the Schedule relating to fees in the Ordinance, dated 7th February, 1935.

Sessional Papers, 1935 :-

No. 1. Report of the Committee on Lepers.

QUESTIONS.

5. The Hon. Mr. JOSÉ PEDRO BRAGA, pursuant to notice, asked the following

questions:-

1. Will the Honourable the Colonial Treasurer state whether it is not a fact that some years ago an abortive attempt was made to establish a Produce Exchange in Hong Kong; and, if so, whether it is not also a fact that the projected Exchange was compelled to close through threatened legislation by the Government?

2. Will he state the reasons that led the Government to withhold its licence

for the operation of the said Exchange?

3. Is the Colonial Treasurer aware that there exist in Hong Kong agencies in the nature of "proprietary exchanges" that conduct business by the transmission of local orders for dealings in foreign Exchanges in com- modities such as wheat, cotton, rubber, tin, etc.?

4. Is it within the knowledge of the Colonial Treasurer that the deals in the said commodities rarely, if ever, materialise beyond the act of receiving, or paying for, differences when they become due arising out of the transactions for sale and/or purchase resulting in a profit or loss, as the case may be, and that it has not been known that the delivery of the commodities, or any portion thereof, contracted for has been made in point of fact?

5. Is it not anomalous that the project for establishing at least one local Produce Exchange was suppressed at its inception while sanction has not been withheld from non-domiciled firms doing business in the Colony in a variety of commodities?

6. Will the Honourable Member inform the Council-

(a) Whether the contracts referred to in Question 4 are stamped and,

if so, what is the taxing rule applicable to such contracts? (b) Is the stamp duty regulated by any sliding scale determined by the ad valorem value of each deal; for example, on the basis that share brokers' contracts are taxed at the rate of 20 cents per $100 of the value thereof, or is the ad valorem amount of the commodity contracts altogether ignored?

The Colonial Treasurer replied as follows:-

1. If the honourable member refers to the movement which led to the incor- poration in 1921 of the South China Stock and Produce Exchange Co., Ltd., the General Exchange Co., Ltd., and the Hongkong Chinese Merchants Stock and Produce Exchange Co., Ltd., the answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative.

The draft of an Ordinance to regulate exchanges was published in the Government Gazette of the 14th January, 1922, but the proposed legisla- tion was not proceeded with. The Companies in question were dissolved