Government House,
Hongkong, 24th December, 189...
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of Your Excellency's despatch of yesterday's date in reference to the question as to what action short of forcible measures can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy in respect to the piracy and "Sainan compensation" difficulties. Your Excellency recalls the suggestion made by Mr. Mansfield that if the friendly legislation which the Hong Kong Government has hitherto adopted were withheld and the Viceroy were warned that the Colony is directly interested in the security of trade in the Canton Delta waterways, and that the "Ekinga" was a Hongkong registered vessel it might help towards a settlement.
2.
This proposal has already been communicated to the Foreign Office by His Majesty's Minister at Peking on July 27th. On August 16th, a reply was received from His Majesty's Government to the effect that the proposal could not be approved. Sometime in August Mr. Mansfield called upon me and in the course of conversation I learnt of these proposals, upon which he asked my views. I replied that the negotiations on these matters had hitherto been conducted by His Majesty's Minister and the Commander-in-Chief without reference to this Government and that if the action taken by the Fleet proved ineffective it would...
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Sir A. W. Moore, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., C.M.G.,
Commander-in-Chief,
China Station.