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Enclosure in Shanghai P/L Despatch to Foreign Office, No. 222 of 4/7/39.
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COPY)
No. 315.
British Consulate-General.
SHANGHAI,
268
4th July 1939.
Copied to: Foreign Office, No. 222, (3),
Tokyo, No. 131,
Commercial Counsellor, No. 27,
Commander-in-Chief.
Naval Liaison Officer.
sir,
with reference to my despatch No. 113 of 14th March regarding the affairs of the Shanghai Licensed Pilots' Association, I have the honour to report that the seven Japanese steamship lines concerned have now accepted the exchange compensation scheme, commencing to pay for pilotage services at the new rate as from 1st June, and that a compromise has been reached between the two parties regarding payment of arrears for pilotage during the previous eleven months.
2.
As Your Excellency will recall, this increased pilotage rate was introduced in respect of all commercial shipping other than Japanese on 1st July of last year, the usual pilotage services continuing to be rendered to the Japanest firms despite their refusal to acdept the scheme. By 31st May the arrears due to the Association from the Japanese companies totalled some $89,790, but little hope of recovering any portion of this sum was entertained by the pilots. However, on the 15th June, Mr. K. Watanabe, local mamager of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, informed the Association on behalf of the Japanese companies that the
His Majesty's Ambassador,
British Embassy,
SHANGHAI.
latter/
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