648961-1892-Circular-Despatch-re-Companies-carrying-on-business-in-the-German-Protectorates — Page 1

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 16TH JANUARY, 1892.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.-No. 26.

29

The subjoined despatch (with enclosure) from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies is published for general information.

By Command,

W. M. GOODMAN, Acting Colonial Secretary.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 16th January, 1892.

CIRCULAR.

DOWNING STREET,

17th November, 1891.

SIR,I have the honour to transmit herewith, for the information of the Colony under your Government, copies of an extract, with English translation, from the North German Gazette of 16th August 1891, containing the decisions arrived by the German Imperial Colonial Council with regard to Companies, &c., carrying on business in the German Protectorates.

I have the honour to be,

The Officer Administering the Government of

(Translation.)

Sir,

Your most obedient, humble Servant,

HONGKONG.

Extract from the "North German Gazette" of August 16, 1891.

KNUTSFORD.

THE long expected publication of the decisions of the Colonial Council with regard to the law respecting Colonial Companies appeared in yesterday's "Deutsche Colonial Blatt."

The decisions are as follows

(a.) Foreign Corporations, in so far as they are commercial Companies, particularly joint stock and "commandite" Companies, must obtain the permission of the Government in order to carry on their business within the Protectorate.

Regulations will be made to put the same principle in force, without delay, in the German. spheres of interest.

(b.) Foreign Companies (a) must produce proof of sufficient means (viz., sufficient capital) before they can obtain admission to the Protectorate.

(c.) Foreign Companies (a) must found a branch in the Protectorate in which they ask for permission to carry on business.

It rests with the Government to decide, whether the appointment of a representative and the acquisi- tion of a legal status shall be considered sufficient.

(d.)—1. The authorizations of a public legal nature granted by native Chieftains are not to be recognized as valid.

This Regulation especially holds good for :-

a. Exclusive Concessions for roads and railways.

B. Commercial monopolies.

y. Exclusive mining rights.

8. Concessions of authorizations to carry out mining works, and of rights to the soil and ground, over the whole territory of a tribe, or over a greater or undefined portion thereof.

2. In case the Government admits the rights of a commercial Company of the nature described above in 1, a, S. The exercise of such rights must be under the form of a Company founded according to German law in Germany or the Protectorate.

From a consideration of the above decisions, it appears that the Colonial Council was engaged upon two different questions.

These questions may be deducted from the answers as follows

1. Under what conditions are foreign communities of people bearing limited responsibility to be permitted to carry on business in the Protectorates?

2. What can be considered as a possible subject for the granting of Concessions on the part of native Chiefs, and to what extent is it incumbent on the Government to recognize such legal businesses?

The decisions from (a) to (c) answer the first; those under (d) answer the second.

With regard to foreign Companies, all those who do not carry on business for profit, e.g., mis- sionaries, do not come into consideration.

It may be gathered that it makes no difference to the position of these Companies, whether their members barter with the natives in order to procure their necessities, or whether, with a view to educating them to work, they found trading Settlements, provided that these businesses actually serve the objects of the Mission. Open trading Companies differ from industrial Companies, as also from "commandite" Companies.