municating with the Chinese Government except through the Majesty's Diplomatic servants.
6.
The expediency and propriety of such a course may safely be admitted in places and at times where and when Her Majesty's Government has diplomatic servants at hand, through whom in matters of urgency it is possible that the necessary communications be made.
It so happens, however, that for ascertaining what direction a criminal has just fled; or the place where stolen property of a particular kind; or a person answering certain description can be found at a particular place, there may be no diplomatic representative of Her Majesty's Government at hand, as is the case at Kowloon. Suppose, moreover, that circumstances were to cause the removal of a British Consul from Canton, there might be no Consular person to communicate with on such matters than some distant province.
Therefore, the real question at issue is how is it best to carry on the daily routine of petty inquiries and business appertaining to the Departments of the Registrar General and Police Superintendent, either by such neighborly intercourse as subsists between the Authorities of adjoining districts in foreign European Countries, such as Belgium and France, which nevertheless have...