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6.
Nevertheless, I can easily understand that under the circumstances, and in the absence of any apparent reason to the contrary, Your Lordship should have treated it as a matter of course for China, as well as any other Treaty Power, to have the right of appointing a Consul here, and that you should have expressed such views.
18. Alcock's opinion on the concurrence in Sin...
On the 10th instant I laid your Lordship's despatch before my Executive Council and I invited the unofficial Members of the Legislative Council to represent their advice, as persons connected with some of the largest Mercantile Establishments in China and whose local personal experience entitles their opinions on such a point to special weight.
8. I have the honor to report that their unanimous judgment, arrived at without hesitation and without the least difference of opinion, is wholly opposed to authorizing by any revision of the Treaty of Tientsin or otherwise the appointment of a Chinese Consul to reside in Hongkong.
We found that no application had been made by the Chinese Government on the subject. The suggestion had been forced on Prince Kung, who from all that appears, may be perfectly indifferent to it, or even opposed to it, except as far...