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I request that your Excellency will inform me of your decision before the end of the present month of November.
I have, &c. (Signed)
A. W. MOORE,
Admiral and Commander-in-chief, China Station.
Inclosure 7 in No. 1.
Registration of Launches under the British Flag at the British Consulate-General, Canton.
I HAVE ascertained that of recent years the only bona fide case of piracy on a British vessel in the West River district was that of the river steamer “Sainam,” belonging to the West River Steam-ship Company (Amalgamated), which vessel was pirated on the 13th July, 1906 (vide my submission of the 31st July, 1906). The remainder of the outrages reported as piracies have in reality been robberies committed on board small launches flying the British flag and engaged in the passenger traffic in the various waterways around Canton.
2. Under our present Regulations for registration at Canton, it seems inevitable that abuses should exist, and as the matter now stands there can be little doubt but that the use of the flag is abused, and that our claims for redress for piracies on so-called "British" launches are thereby weakened.
3. I have been unable to procure copies of "The Inland Waters Regulations, 1898," and the West River Regulations of 1897, or of the correspondence which led up to their institution and the introduction of the present system of registry, but, so far as I can gather, the history is briefly as follows:
Authority for the registration of launches at the British Consulate-General, Canton, was given by Sir N. O'Conor in 1886. This appears to have been the result of representations made by the Chinese Government to His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking, and was intended to provide a means for the identification of British vessels in connection with the exercise of control over the river traffic, and as a means of protecting our launches from interference.
4. Sir Nicholas O'Conor directed the Consul to-
"Issue to any British owner of a steam-launch upon application a certificate under the seal of the Consulate to the effect that his launch is the property of a British subject."
The fee for this certificate was to be limited to the charge for the Consular stamp.
Authority for such vessels to fly the British ensign was given by Sir Claude MacDonald in 1898, although it seems that the flag had been actually used before by them.
5. The actual qualifications for British registration at Canton at the present time, I am informed, are-
(a.) The person registering must satisfy the British Consul-General that he is a British subject.
(b.) He must produce proof of ownership.
(c) The vessel must be passed by a surveyor to be appointed by the Consul-General.
N.B. The fees for the above amount to about 10 dollars (or £1.4s.). Condition (c) was recently established, and has had the effect of disqualifying a disreputable class of launch which formerly flew the British flag.
6. An examination of the list of launches registered at His Britannic Majesty's Consulate-General, Canton, shows that twenty-two out of a total of forty-six are owned by a Mr. Fisher and the Po On Company, of which he is an agent. He informed me that he is interested in some thirty launches altogether.
Mr. Fisher is a half-caste British subject, who has apparently been able to make good his claim of ownership of the various vessels registered in his name, but I have reason to doubt that he is the actual owner. His business appears to be the hiring of launches to such as may require them, irrespective of nationality. He may, as he does, charter them to Chinese traders for long periods, and for so long as the charter lasts he takes no further interest in them, neither knowing on what business they are employed, where they ply, or by whom they are manned. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the majority of the so-called piracies have been committed on vessels registered in his name or that of the Po On Company; there is nothing to prevent these launches being run by a Chinese captain and crew who may be in league with the robbers for the plunder of passengers.
7. To illustrate the conditions under which these passenger launches run, they may well be compared to omnibuses, their routes and principal stopping-places are conspicuously displayed, passengers come on board and take their tickets from a compradore, not only at the regular ports of call, but almost anywhere between ports; and during their run the vessels are stopped frequently to pick up fares, or to put down passengers, who embark or disembark in sampans. No supervision can thus be exercised over the embarkation of passengers who, as has frequently happened, may be robbers themselves with their arms concealed about their persons. The launches are entirely manned by Chinese subjects from the captain down, and there is no check on efficiency or character.
8. There are strong grounds for suspecting that some of the launches registered as British are really Chinese owned.
All that is required is proof of ownership, and what can be more simple (or more difficult to disprove) if, for a consideration, a British subject accepts temporary ownership, for the purpose of registration, the bill of sale being made out in his name.
9. Although the fact that these robberies are committed at all indicates a state of lawlessness, which it is in the interests of China to put down, yet the question arises as to whether we can conscientiously bring these cases forward as insults to the British flag, and insist that steps should be taken to protect "British interests."
10. That British registration is advantageous to the vessels themselves goes without saying, when it is borne in mind that it affords-
(a.) British protection;
(b.) Considerable reduction in dues levied by local authorities;
(c.) Immunity from interference by Chinese officials, and consequently immunity from "squeeze";
but where the advantages accruing to Great Britain come in it is difficult, for me at any rate, to understand.
11. I have discussed this point with His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton, and he admits that the so-called British owner is in many cases merely an agent for Chinese, and that his control over the launches flying the British flag and registered in his name is quite inadequate; in fact, the Consul-General has made efforts (to which I shall refer later) to put the Registration Regulations on a more satisfactory footing. He thinks, however, that it is a matter for serious consideration whether any great curtailment of the use of the British flag might not be a political mistake.
12. From the Consular point of view the advantages claimed are that launches, when not towing, carry passengers about the delta who are engaged in trade, and when towing, are assisting in the movement of merchandise, and that they thus have their part in the general trade of the Canton Delta and the West River, the British share of this trade being very considerable. It is also claimed that, as the repeated robberies which occur bring great injury to trade, that if the foreign flag is instrumental in securing the suppression of the present lawlessness, it will be greatly to the benefit of both foreign and native commerce. In the absence of foreign pressure, the right to exert which is mainly afforded by the use of the flag, serious action by the local authorities is not to be expected; and that, if the British flag is to be withdrawn, launches will be driven to use that of other Powers less particular, less disinterested, and having less power of Consular and judicial control than that possessed by the British Consul-General.
There is, of course, something in this argument, but it must be admitted that the advantages claimed for British interests are very indirect, and I do not consider that there is sufficient in them to justify us in lending our protection to Chinese subjects who fraudulently register their vessels as British for the sake of the material benefits they thereby receive. It must be borne in mind that the consequence of trying to coerce the Chinese authorities in the interests of such as these might possibly have serious consequences. At the present time the country is awakening. Young China, in the
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