18908
JUN 2 1906,
to the Chinese Government in a reasonable form. I do not think the Viceroy when he seized the coal had any knowledge that it was in Mr. Bank's possession, and it does not appear that there were any outward signs by which he should have known that the Bank was in possession.
Moreover in arguing such a case with Chinese Authorities I should not allow Chinese technicalities to be advanced as a reason for preventing an equitable enquiry into the facts. So long as the Viceroy refrained from dealing with or realizing the coal—which at one time he threatened to do and which my representations at the Wai Wu Pu actually checked—I would have Prince Ch'ing's proposal of a joint enquiry at His Majesty's Consulate General in Canton a reasonable one, and in accepting it I considered that I was acting in consonance with the spirit of Article 27 of the Order in Council of 1904.
There etc.,
(Signed) Ernest Satow