not let English land cables in China Seeing that the English will not allow Chinese to land them in Hongkong.
7
It must be to the interest both the government and of the mercantile community to have as much telegraphic communication as possible between Hồng Dương and other parts of the world & I do not see that this colonial government has any further interest in supporting one company than another, whether it be English or Danish.
The government wants telegraphic instructions. I request that these papers be returned to them soon.
C-PL 16. Jeb
I gather from Sir Thomas Wade's letter of the 8th instant (Confidential) that the Foreign Office sanctioned the Colonial Office withholding ratification of the Chinese Cables.
The Chinese had already given the Danish Company the right to land and lay their cable ends. This was the concession that was not taken up; the Danish agreed to use the "Danish Cable" and laid some of their own.
On the edge of the harbour, in the outer waters of the anchorage, the Danish Company was not prevented from landing their cable; and when severe weather came, they did so; and how could they complain of a monopoly for 20 years?
Our complaint of Feb 17.
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