:
3
354
replied by giving me his opinion that the Viceroy was only
amenable to arguments backed by diplomatic pressure in Peking
and suggesting that I should ask His Britannic Majesty's
Minister there to move the Wai Wu Pu to insist on some ar-
-rangement being concluded.
8.
I accordingly wrote privately to Sir
Ernest Satow on the 8th. February setting forth our difficulti-
-es and asking for his advice. Si Ernest replied very fully
on the 22nd. February and satisfied me that it was not possible
to get the Chinese Goverment to give implicit orders in the
matter to the Viceroy, though, if his consent could be secured
to any arrangement that would be satisfactory to us, the
Central Goverment would be unlikely to make any objections.
I communicated my concurrence in this view to Mr. Scott. The
latter, however, adhered to his opinion that it was only by
bringing pressure to hear from Peking that the Viceroy could
be made amenable to arguments. I suggested that if I had a
personal interview with the Viceroy I might be able to advance
this and other matters but he was strongly of opinion that
no useful result would be obtained by such an interview.
9
In this vicious circle the matter now
rests. Sir Ernest Satow is of opinion, I think rightly, that
it is useless to press the Central Government to go outside
the Convention of the 13th. May, 1904, to the extent of making
Hongkong the port of sailing for labourers recruited in Kwang
Tung or Kwang Si unless the local Authorities will agree to
this. Mr. Scott says it is useless to expect the local Authori-
-ties to agree unless pressure is brought to bear on them
through the Central Government.
10.