[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
No. 1.
155
[July 17.]
SECTION 1.
Sir E. Satou to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received July 17.)
(No. 181.)
Peking, May 27, 1905. My Lord,
WITH reference to your Lordship's telegram of the 17th instant informing me that the attention of His Majesty's Government had been called in Parliament to piratical attacks upon British-owned launches in the Canton delta, and suggesting that I should make representations on the subject to the Chinese Government, I have the honour to report that on the 25th instant I received a visit from the newly appointed Admiral of Canton, and took the opportunity of impressing upon him the necessity of stringent and energetic measures being adopted against the perpetrators of the lawless acts complained of. I have followed up my remarks to him by a note to Prince Ching urging that the necessary instructions should be given to the Viceroy of Canton, and that well-armed and well-manned steamers should be furnished to the Cauton Admiral in sufficient number to enable him to efficiently perform the duty of repressing this kind of violence. Of this note, as well as of a despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong, recounting what passed at my interview with Admiral Li, I have the honour to inclose copies,
In my despatch No. 402 of the 28th November I had the honour to transmit an extract from an Intelligence Report furnished by Mr. F. E. Wilkinson, the Acting Consul at Wuchow, in which he gave some details of two cases mentioned in Mr. Campbell's Report for September (referred to in your Lordship's telegram), and explained some of the difficulties which hamper the Chinese officials in dealing with crimes of this character. At the same time, there seems to be little doubt that while the provincial authorities have not provided adequate means for the suppression of these piratical bands, many of the minor officials are to blame for remissness in the performance of their duty, possibly owing to the absence of the Viceroy from the seat of government. The successful operations against the rebels in Kuanghisi seem to have had some effect in reducing the number of disorderly persons who used to commit robberies on the upper portion of the West River, and it is satisfactory to note that Mr. Wilkinson, in his Report for the quarter ended the 31st March, was able to state that no cases of piracy or even of robbery on the waterways of that province had heen reported to him.
I have, &e. (Signed)
ERNEST SATOW.
Your Excellency,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Sir E. Satow to Governor Sir M. Nathan.
Peking, May 25, 1905. I RECEIVED a visit to-day from Li-chun, who has recently been appointed Acting Admiral at Canton. He is a native of the Province of Szechuan, but appears to have spent many years in and about Canton in the execution of both civil and quasi- naval duties, and to have travelled as far afield as Singapore and Siam. He is 35 years of age, and gives the impression of being a capable and energetic man.
I took the opportunity of mentioning to him that the prevalence of piracy in Canton waters was a source of constant danger to British trade as well as to the lives and property of his own fellow countrymen, and I expressed the hope that he would succeed in devising efficient measures for its complete eradication.
He assured me that he fully recognized the importance of this question and that he intended to do his best to cope with it. He stated that the system of patrol The patrol- and guard-boats had already been re-organized on the West River. boats he described as steam-vessels each of which operates along a section of the river from 30 to 50 li in length, while the guard-boats were native craft, with a crew of fifteen men in each, charged with the policing of sections varying from 3 li to 5 li in length.
[2071 -1]