In cases where such a course is deemed to be necessary, the vessel may be detained and escorted into port, to be handed over on arrival to the Consul-General or Commodore, as the case may be.
3. It should be borne in mind there is no authority for examining vessels trading bona fide under a foreign flag. Vessels under a foreign flag are only to be examined therefore under exceptional and suspicious circumstances, such as when it is known that the vessel is flying false colours, or there is good reason to apprehend that she has either committed, or is about to commit, some act of piracy.
If on examination these suspicious are found to be justified, the vessel,
If British should be placed under arrest, escorted to Canton, and there handed over to His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, or to Hong Kong in the case of vessels running from that port;
If Chinese, to be handed over to the nearest Chinese guard-boat or other competent Chinese official;
If of any other nationalty, she must not be detained, but a report of the whole circum- stances should be sent to His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, who will, in his discretion, communicate with the Consul concerned.
4. The work of the river gun-boats may be rendered more efficient and effective if Commanding Officers will keep themselves informed of the duties and disposition of the Chinese steam guard-boats. The amount of intelligence, activity, and zeal shown by these vessels in the performance of their policing duties is to be carefully noted, and any case in which these qualities appear to be conspicuously lacking should be reported to the Consul-General, in order that he may bring the matter before the notice of the Chinese authorities at Canton.
5. British launches plying under Inland Steam Navigation Rules in the upper waters of the rivers-that is, above the gun-boat anchorage at Canton, are required when in the vicinity of a British gun-boat to pass her as closely as possible and to dip their colours. This Regulation has been issued by the Consul-General at Canton with a view to insuring the possibility of verbal communication being exchanged, at the option of the Commanding Officers of the gunboats.
6. These orders are to take effect from the 1st May, 1907.
IF
Alacrity," ot Nagasaki,
April 7, 1907.
(Signed)
A. W. MOORE,
Vice-Admiral.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government,]
CONFIDENTIAL.
248
C. O.
21013 [March 125.]
NECE
SECTION 13 JUN 07,
CHINA RAILWAYS.
[9539]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received March 25.)
(No. 51.) (Telegraphic.) P.
TIEN-TSIN-CHINKIANG Railway.
Peking, March 23, 1907.
Please refer to my immediately preceding telegram of the 18th instant. A definite course of action must now be decided on in respect to this line, as strong instructions have been issued to my German colleague by his Government to press the negotiations, and he has once more applied to me to continue to co-operate actively with him. The agent of the Chinese Central Railways, Mr. Bland, is also concentrating all his energy on these negotiations.
Subject to the following two provisos, I see no objection to concerted Anglo- German action on this question
----
1. That, in your opinion, the political objections to the project have been removed by the modifications communicated in your despatch No. 463 of the 31st December, 1906.
2. That the British and Chinese Corporation are prepared to acquiesce in the subordination of the Soochow-Ningpo negotiations to those for the Tien-tsin- Chinkiang Railway.
On this latter point there should be no ambiguity. The combined pressure of two Legations cannot fail to give the precedence to the Tien-tsin-Chinkiang negotiations, and they will meet with less resistance from the Chinese.
The construction of the line seems to be favoured by local British opinion in Tien-tsin.
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