COP
No. 22.*
Sir,
Enclosure 1-A in to
546
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Hongkong, 18th April, 1899.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 10th instant, enclosing copy of a despatch
addressed to you by the Viceroy on the subject of the removal of
the Chinese Customs from the New Territory leased to Great Britain
by the Chinese Government.
His Excellency the Governor regrets to find
that the Viceroy has so entirely misunderstood the repeated state-
ments made to him on the subject at the interview between their
respective Excellencies on the 2nd instant, as nothing could have
been more distinct than the Governor's emphatic statement to the
Viceroy that the Customs' Stations could not be permitted to re-
main in the leased territories.
Under authority received from Her Majesty's
Government, His Excellency the Governor has made arrangements to take over the administration of the leased territory on the 17th
instant, and will hoist the British Flag at 1 p.m. on that date at
Britannic Majesty's Consul,
Tai-po-hui
Cat A+