Sessional_Paper_1935 — Page 84

80

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population of the Colony is engaged in "earning' a living. That is to say, this percentage is actually occupied in pursuits of

gain"

Table No. 39 on page 65 of that report gives a synopsis of Industrial Classification which is of considerable interest. The following figures have been extracted therefrom:

Total population

.849,751

Portion of total population occupied in pursuit of gain....470,794

Portion occupied in Manufacture....

..111,156

Portion occupied in Transport and Communications

71,264

Portion occupied in Fishing and Agriculture

64,420

Portion occupied in Commerce and Finance.

97,026

16. From these figures it will be seen that about one quarter of those occupied in pursuits of gain (or one seventh of the total population) is engaged in some kind of manufacture, while a somewhat smaller number is engaged in commerce and finance. It is estimated, however, that of the rest of the working population a very much greater proportion is engaged in servicing finance and commerce than in servicing manufacture. These figures are merely produced, without any desire to exaggerate, to show that a substantial portion of the activities of the Colony is engaged in industry. It is, of course, quite well recognised that the principal and basic activities of the Colony are Trade and Commerce, and the auxiliary services appertaining thereto, and that industrial activity has only recently arisen and assumed any sizeable proportion.

17. Until we examined the position we were as a body inclined, with others of the community, to consider the industry of Hong Kong as being of very minor importance. As the result of research and evidence, however, we have come to the conclusion that it has assumed a proportion which can by no means be disregard- ed and that while it has arisen in somewhat haphazard style it does contribute sub- stantially to the welfare of the economic unit of South China and Hong Kong. We are of the opinion, however, and all the evidence which we have heard bears this out, that the industry of Hong Kong cannot develop much beyond its present stage except inasmuch as it can form an economic part of the whole industrial develop- ment of South China and even to some extent of North China. While some of the factories at present existing in Hong Kong are solely Hong Kong Units, some of the more important are but sections of industrial concerns, the other parts of which operate in Canton or in Shanghai. That the still closer combination of the industry of the Colony with that of China is the logical development is still more apparent when we note that of the 111,000 engaged therein all but 800 are Chinese. Still more striking is the fact ascertained by research that there are over 400 Chinese managed factories in the Colony mainly producing consumable goods, having a total capital of somewhere about $50 millions. This capital is almost entirely Chinese.

18. From all the above it is not only clear that all the activities of Hong Kong are very much bound up with those of South China but also that from a purely economical point of view there should be no separation or cleavage in those activities. They are indeed in many respects inseparable. Owing, however, to artificial barriers placed between them mainly by way of taxation, normal co- operation and development is greatly retarded. Thus considering the area of South China and Hong Kong as a whole it seems impossible to say that any measures calculated to afford free trade within its borders can be of detriment to any part of it. Prosperity accruing to Hong Kong must be reflected in increased prosperity to Canton and the hinterland and vice versa, and any action causing economic separation can only work to the detriment of both. The fact that South China in- vests money in Hong Kong and that Chinese in Hong Kong remit money to South China alone points to this.

19. It appears equally plain that neither South China nor Hong Kong can ex- pect much increase in prosperity until both internal conditions in China and general world conditions improve. Our desire, therefore, must be to initiate arrange- ments calculated to ensure that when conditions do improve the economic unit of