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16. Hong Kong must therefore be regarded as geographically and economically attached to China from which it is separated politically as a British Crown Colony administered by a Governor with the assistance of an Executive and a Legislative Council of the former of which there is one Chinese member out of nine (six officials and three unofficials) and of the latter three out of seventeen (nine officials and eight unofficials, one of whom is nominated by the Justices of the Peace and another by the Chamber of Commerce) all appointed by the Governor, there being no popular representation. (The Secretary for Chinese Affairs who is a member of both Legislative and Executive Councils represents the Chinese point of view, and in addition to the advice of the Chinese members of Council has the assistance of several Chinese committees. The Urban Council, which, subject to an overriding power in the Legislative Council, has power to make by-laws under the various Health Ordinances and the Factories and Workshops Ordinance, has four Chinese members out of thirteen, five of whom are ex officio, six appointed by the Governor, and two elected. The influx of Chinese into Hong Kong is caused not only by the search for work which is frequently not available and the possibility of which must in the nature of things be limited, but by the pursuit of the benefits of law and peace and the flight from insecurity. Many wealthy Chinese find Hong Kong a suitable place of retirement. The result of this excessive immigration is over-population, housing congestion, poverty, disease, unemployment and an unlimited supply of unskilled labour.

17. Although immigration is in practice unrestricted and persons of Chinese race (which term is undefined) are exempt from the provisions of the Registration of Persons Ordinance No. 3 of 1934 and from the provisions dealing with passports and travel documents of the Immigration and Passports Ordinance No. 8 of 1934, Part I of that Ordinance provides for the examination of immigrants and landing restrictions, and enumerates various classes of persons who may be prevented from landing or expelled, which include those who cannot show that they have definite employment awaiting them, or that they have a reasonable prospect of obtaining employment or that they have in their possession, or are physically able to earn, the means of decently supporting themselves and their dependants, or who are likely More- to become a charge upon the public or any public charitable institution. over, under Regulation 4 of the Emergency Regulations, persons who appear to the Commissioner of Police to have no regular employment may be summarily expelled from the Colony, as was done during the strike and boycott of 1925-26. It is understood that this regulation is being rescinded.

18. It is difficult to see how with Hong Kong's proximity to China immigra- tion can be successfully controlled. Even criminals and undesirables deported under the provisions of the Deportation of Aliens Ordinance No. 39 of 1935 are frequently not deterred from returning by the possibility of a year or more imprison-

ment.

19. Excessive immigration depresses the standard of living of the workers, and with the impossibility of a tariff defence it is feared by many, such as the Economic Commissioners, that any improvement in working conditions will in economic com- petition with a less socially developed China end in depriving the workers of work and that, as it has been expressed, excessive factory legislation may leave the Colony with the legislation but without the factories.

20. In contrast with the unrestricted immigration of Chinese into Hong Kong it is of interest to note the control exercised over their emigration as labourers through Hong Kong to other places by the Asiatic Emigration Ordinance No. 30 of 1915, which provides that no emigrant ship shall carry other than free emigrants, that is emigrants who are not under a contract of service, or proceed to sea without a certificate from the Emigration Officer. All emigrants must be medically inspected.

21. With the large supply of labour available there is no question of forced or conscript labour, and ordinarily no necessity to go beyond the Colony to recruit, and no occasion has been found to develop labour exchanges although one or two small privately owned employment bureaux exist. The non-local labour in the