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Kwangtung, in order to examine and report upon the probable effect on British trade of Orthe Commercial Clauses of the Franco-Chinese Treaty. Your Lordship's telegram
No. 43 of the 5th August approved this proposal.
For some time past various reasons have led me to question, not the general desira- 451 bility, but the present opportuneness, of Mr. Baber undertaking such an inquiry. His departure from Peking would nearly coincide with that of the Imperial Chinese Commis- sioners who have been deputed to delimitate the Tonquin frontier, and his movements could hardly fail to excite the attention of the Chinese, and perhaps the jealous notice of
the French.
While on the one hand there is no reason to conceal our watchfulness of the interests of British trade in those regions, it is nevertheless well to avoid any action which might resemble an ostentatious study, on the spot, of the effect of the trade stipulations of the late Agreement. These stipulations, and the exceptional facilities which they promise to French interests, would seem to call for some compensating concessions to British and German commerce; and whatever ultimate action might be taken by England and Germany in the matter would be attributed by the Chinese to our initiation, and would, in so much, indispose the Chinese Government to lend a favourable car to such proposals as we might suggest. In short, we should have to pay diplomatically more than the value we should receive from commercial information.
While considering this question, I received an application from Mr. Bourne for per- mission to travel in South-west Yünnan, in accordance with the liberty which his prede- cessors had enjoyed.
Mr. Bourne, as your Lordship is aware, is stationed at Ch'ung-ch'ing, one of the out- posts of British commercial enterprise. He has been accustomed to travel, and is accredited to the Chinese officials in the interior for the express and avowed purpose of studying commercial interests. His movements would therefore excite no comment from the city of P'u-êrh, which he proposes to visit on account of the Indian Government. He can make his way along the south frontier of Yunnan across the Red River to the neigh- bourhood of Laokai, and along the frontier to a point opposite Kaobang and Langson, and thence to Nan-ning Fu, from which city he would be enabled to furnish some useful information respecting the region which can be tapped by imports from Pakhoi.
This is practically the country through which Mr. Baber's immediate travels would have extended, and I trust that, for the reasons here stated, and for those which I shall have the honour of mentioning in a subsequent despatch, your Lordship will approve of my having authorized Mr. Bourne rather than Mr. Baber to undertake the journey, and to report on the probable effect of the commercial stipulations of the Franco-Chinese Treaty.
I have the honour to inclose to your Lordship herewith a copy of Mr. Bourne's application above referred to, and of the instructions which I have sent to him in reply.
I have, &c.
N. R. O'CONOR.
(Signed)
Inclosure 1 in No. 117.
Sir,
Mr. Bourne to Mr. O'Conor,
Ch'ung-ch'ing, August 10, 1885.
I PROPOSE, with your approval, to make a journey during the coming winter by way of Yunnan Fu to P'u-êrh Fu, in the south of the Province of Yunnan. From that place I would return along a route north of the Tonquin border through Lin-ngan Fu and Kuang-nan Fu, and thence by way of the Province of Kwei-chow to Ch'ung-ch'ing.
The following are the more important objects which I propose to myself in making the journey :-
The Indian Government has written several times during the last few years, through Her Majesty's Consul-General, Shanghae, to the officer stationed here, asking for a supply of P'u-erh tea-seed, and for notes regarding the altitude and meteorology of that district. Attempts have been made, through the missionaries, to get seed, but without success ; and my inquiries lead me to the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Hosie, namely, that there is no chance of getting seed, much less the information required, except by a visit to the district. This would be my first object.
I should make a circuit of the district of South-west China, ie, Yünnan and Kwei-chow, west of Kuei-yang Fu, the best trade route for the supply of which is a
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