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'if they offer resistance, are shot or otherwise disposed of. Vessels of all descriptions on the river, from native junks to foreign steam launches, are attacked and looted, and in several cases murder has preceded the robbery. Only so lately as the 20th, a launch flying the flag of Portugal was boarded by a pirate crew, the master shot, the crew overpowered, and the craft robbed.
It is perhaps hardly to be wondered that under such circumstances, the wealthier inhabitants of those districts should be sending their money for investment elsewhere, or that the silk merchants at Canton should have given notice that there is some possibility that they may not be able to fulfil contracts for delivery of silk, the producers being afraid either to attempt its transport to Canton or to make the return journey with treasure of which they are likely to be despoiled en route. Native merchants are, as a result, loth to enter into contracts for export, and business threatens to come to a comparative standstill. The foreign steamboat companies, which have been pluckily engaged in an uphill pioneer work on the West River, also find their earnings seriously curtailed by the operations of the pirates and banditti.
The British Consul at Canton has no doubt informed you of the condition of affairs in the Two Kwang, and not improbably he has made you acquainted with the very unsatisfactory nature of the steps taken by the Viceroy to cope with the predatory gangs who set the local authorities at defiance.
The Committee trust that you may make such representations to the Yung-Tsz Yamen as will lead...