1903 - The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce

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the piratical craft which then swarmed in these waters, while later he
was very closely connected with the history of Hongkong. He has now
passed to his rest full of years and honours, leaving behind him a
reputation which all must rE>gard as a. high example of good servicf'
fearlessly rendered in the inlere:::ts of the Empire. "'\Ye have recently
had brought before us in a forcible mannf'r the advantage which li f':::
with those who hold the command of the sea, and it is good on occasion
to recall the debt we owe to His Majesty's senior service and to rpmember
that their presence here means security to our trade in tlwsC'
far distant waters aml ensures the safety of all those who dwell under
the shadow of our wide-flung flag. (Applause.) With these remarks
I beg to propose the adoption of Lhe report and accounts.
1\Ir. E. S. W REALLER :-l\Ir. Chairman, I have very great pleasure
indeed in seconding the proposal. I think that from the report and the
('hair man's speech it must be eYident to all the members of this
Chamber that the commercial affairs of the Colony have been very
well cared £o1·, and our thanks are due t.o the Committee for the way
in which they have looked after those things both great and small.
There arc one or two things which the Chairman has referred to which
I would like to mention. ·with regard to the question of explosives
on board steamers I can only say it seems difficult to understand why
it is that we cannot get on with similar regulations here to those that
exist f'lse\vherf'. The Government has not told us, as far as I under­
::;tand, why ::;pecial regulations are required here. ·with regard to
the Medical Officer of the Port we have, so far as things go, and
can be with a gentleman in private parctice, perhaps as efficient a
service as we can expect, but for one of the biggest shipping centres
in the world that service is not nearly good enough. My experience
last year when I was travelling- and I was in most of the
ports in this part of the world two or three times-was that on the two
o~casions on which I anivetl in Hongkong it took an immensely longer
time th::tn in any port in China or .Japa n, ·Manila 01· Dalny, for the medical
officer to get on hoard the :-:fRamer ; and I think that i~ an unsati::-:­
factory state of affairs in one of the principal shipping ports in the
world. (Applau.-'uheme for 5cc:uring