Sessional_Paper_1917 — Page 82

Enclosure 2.

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At the meeting of the Legislative Council held on the 5th of April Mr. Holyoak, the Un-official Member nominated by the Chamber of Commerce gave notice of the resolution, copy of which is enclosed, and on the 19th of April the resolution was moved by him and seconded by Mr. C. E. Anton, the present Head in Hongkong of the Firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Company, Limited. The resolu- tion endorses as far as German subjects are concerned the views of Enclosure 3: Hansard the Chamber on the subject of the return of enemy subjects. I enclose Report of 19th April, 1917. the Hansard debate on the resolution in question and copies of leading Enclosure 4: S.C.M.P., articles from the 4 English newspapers commenting upon the debate.

CM., H.K.T. of 20th April, 1917, HK.D.P. of 21st April, 1917.

Enclosure 5: Hongkong Weekly Press of 27th April, 1917, pp. 348-354.

Subsequently a Meeting of the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce was held at which the recommendation to exclude all Germans from the Colony for a period of 10 years following the declaration of peace and that subsequently they be only admitted to the Colony under strict licence, was re-affirmed. Later a Public Meet- ing was convened with the same object and the same result, with the important exceptions that no fixed period was named for the duration of the policy of exclusion and that it is now admitted, to quote from the speech of Mr. P. H. Holyoak, that "it would be presumption and "folly to say that this Colony alone should exclude the Germans". I enclose Press reports of both meetings; and before I leave this subject I would like to emphasize the fact, with reference to Mr. Holyoak's remarks at the meeting of the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce, that before he moved his resolution in the Legislative Council it was within Mr. Holyoak's knowledge that the letter of the Chamber of Commerce of the 8th of January, which was in reply to a direct invitation for the opinion of the Chamber and which contained the substance of his resolution, would be sent to you for your con- sideration. He also knew that the Government could not accept the resolution, for I informed him to that effect immediately after the meeting of Council at which he gave public notice of his intention to move the resolution.

2. Taking now the Chamber's letter seriatim, the first point raised is the importance of the present maintenance, with a view to after-war progress, of the Empire's Commercial position in the Far East, with special reference to the questions of shipping facilities and the supply of trained men. The former question, in its relation to Imperial requirements generally, has received and is still receiving the closest attention of the Admiralty; while the question of the retention in Hongkong of men of commercial training has been and at the time of writing still is under the consideration of the Commission, whose appointment was approved in your telegram of the 7th February.

3. Under the heading "Imports, Exports, and Industries" the Chamber refer to the Colony's close association with China, to its local industries, to its export trade in Chinese produce, and to the question of trade marks registered by enemy firms.

4. The question of Hongkong's relation to China is dealt with by the Chamber at more length under the heading “Fiscal Questions in their letter to Mr. Ross, where they aptly compare the Colony to a depôt or godown. I may make the suggestion that goods in transit through this godown could, by an extension of the bonded warehouse and drawback systems, be made free of any special tariff operative within the Colony.

5. The Chamber lay stress, and rightly so, upon the importance. of the Colony's greatest industry, ship-building, and they refer also to sugar refining and cement and rope manufacture. These industries, and others, such as cigar and cigarette manufacture and tin smelting, now rapidly growing, depend alike on (a) cheap labour (b) free imports of raw materials and (c) cheap freights. The Hongkong Government