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acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, in principle, he sees no objection to the Chinese Scheme. But, as pointed out in the despatch, which you mention, dated the 24th of May, from the late chargé d'affaires at Peking to the Foreign Office, there are many interests to be considered in connexion with this question, especially with regard to British commerce and it may be desirable, as suggested by Mr O'Connor, to give Her Majesty's Consuls an opportunity of reporting the matter so far as the interests of British residents in China are concerned.
The Postmaster General finds that the Imperial revenue would not suffer from the proposed transfer, as, under the Postal Union regulations, China would be accountable to this country for the same amount of sea postage received from rates which are now paid to Hong Kong for the conveyance of the Mails by British Contract Packets. On the other hand, the transfer would lead to some economy in connexion with the expenditure on the Agencies under the present Postal arrangements.
At this stage, therefore, the scheme may be regarded as satisfactory from a Post Office point of view; but, before coming to a decision, it seems important to learn the intentions of the French.