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4. Thus, at the beginning of the autumn, His Majesty's Government stood committed to the demand that China should recognize her obligation to safeguard the waterways by paying compensation for the two piracies referred to, and that she should place a certain number of revenue cruisers under Customs control on the waterways. To the former the Central Government has practically agreed, while the Acting Viceroy at Canton absolutely refused to admit the principle. The Central Government had also agreed to the proposal to patrol the West River by cruisers under Customs control, which the Acting Viceroy refused to do. This particular solution had been adopted by His Majesty's Minister as the one to be pressed, and the Wai-wu Pu, in reply to other schemes proposed, were informed that they could only be considered as complementary to the scheme of Customs control. In November 1906 Sir Robert Hart, in reply to a request for advice from the Viceroy, had suggested that the patrol of the waterways should be entrusted to small armed launches, with some ten soldiers in each, to be under the direct control of the Commissioner of Customs, at the four riverain ports, while the local officials should be held responsible for the more important and difficult work of arresting pirates on shore. He had thus concurred in the principle of Customs control, but Sir J. Jordan, in the following March, found him very averse to supplying the money required out of Customs funds. This difficulty was met by the Wai-wu Pu, who informed the Minister in April that the Revenue Board had decided to provide £32,000 on behalf of the Chinese Government for the purchase of the four revenue cruisers which it was proposed to place under the Customs. It now, however, appeared that the Customs' Commissioner at Canton was averse to responsibility for this patrol being added to the duties of the Customs Service, and on the 27th November, 1907, Sir J. Jordan reported to the Foreign Office that the opposition emanated from Sir R. Hart himself, who was averse to the Customs taking any part in the suppression of piracy.
5. At the beginning of the autumn (1st August) there was no Viceroy at Canton, and the Acting Viceroy was, as I have said, bitterly anti-foreign and opposed to the demands made by the British Government, while the Central Government was powerless to enforce its wishes. The Admiral was at this time in northern waters. No effective action was therefore taken at the moment, and it was hoped that the advent of a new Viceroy might render a solution more hopeful. The new Viceroy arrived on the 19th September, and on the 20th November the Admiral visited him at Canton. The result of this visit was that the Viceroy agreed to:
(a) Provide four new and faster launches for the patrol service;
(b) The patrol would be reorganized on a better system;
(c) He would provide for the co-operation of soldiers for captures by land;
(d) He would consult the Commissioner of Customs regarding the patrol service;
but he declined to place the new launches under the Customs (with European officers in command), and pleaded ignorance of the points of the "Sainam" case, which he promised to look into.
6. With the concurrence of the Minister, the Admiral now intimated to the Viceroy that if the "Sainam" claim were settled forthwith no active measures would be taken on our part until the result of the Viceroy's efforts in the policing of the waterways could be seen. The reply of the Viceroy (27th November) was, however, unfavourable. He repudiated the obligation to pay any compensation, and merely proposed to grant an indefinite compassionate allowance to the wife of the murdered missionary. The Admiral therefore at once took steps to largely increase the British patrolling service on the river, and two sloops, two destroyers, and three torpedo-boats were dispatched on the 3rd and 4th December, and the patrol was in full working order by the 11th December.
7. The result of this action was an outcry on the part of the agitators and anti-foreign party at Canton, who convened mass meetings to protest and endeavour to inflame the people by urging that foreign war-ships in inland waters were the natural precursors of new annexations, and were an interference with the sovereign rights of China, which would form a disastrous precedent. They urged that all launches flying foreign flags should transfer themselves to the Dragon, and discussed the boycott of British trade, and a strike of all Chinese in British employ. With regard to the first of these proposals, the Guild of launch-owners at once expressed their willingness to follow the suggestion if the Provincial Government would remove the onerous treatment which compelled Chinese launches to seek a foreign flag. A full exposé of the disabilities under which launches flying the Chinese flag suffered followed, and the result was to divert the anti-foreign cry largely into a complaint against their own rulers. As regards the latter proposals—a boycott or a strike—it began to be apparent, as days passed, that the patrol was by no means unpopular with the riverain people. They treated the British crews with courtesy, and, indeed, appeared to welcome them and the efficient protection they afforded, so that the fulminations of the Cantonese agitators received no backing, and tended more and more to be directed against the inefficiency and corruption of their own Government, which had been the cause of the trouble, alike from their inability to protect trade from piracy and from their harsh and unjust treatment of launches under the Chinese flag, which had driven owners to seek a foreign flag.
8. The object of the patrol was of course to bring pressure to bear upon the Viceroy, and the collapse of the indignation caused by our action, and the acquiescence of the riverain population in the presence of the gun-boats, would tend to show that the pressure is inefficient to effect any result. The war-vessels cannot remain indefinitely, and the question arises as to what action should now be taken.
9. I have not been consulted as to the action hitherto taken, but His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has most kindly furnished me with a synopsis of the whole matter compiled from records in his office, and I am indebted to this most able compilation for the résumé contained in this despatch. I have to-day received from the Admiral a letter (copy inclosed), in which he consults me as to what action short of forcible measures can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy. In reply, I have addressed to him the letter which forms Inclosure 3 of this despatch.
10. From these despatches your Lordship will observe that Mr. Mansfield's suggestion to threaten the withdrawal of the friendly legislation, and action of Hong Kong Government is now proposed as the next step to be taken, and in my reply to Sir Arthur Moore I have dealt fully with the reasons which cause me to deprecate such action, and have discussed alternatives.
11. The discussion of this piracy question has opened a cognate matter, viz., the question of registration of launches in Chinese inland waters. Sir H. de Sausmarez, Judge of His Majesty's Supreme Court at Shanghai, is due to arrive here to-morrow, and, under instructions from His Majesty's Minister, he proceeds at once to Canton to inquire into this matter. I have also received to-day from Sir J. Jordan a copy of his letter to Sir E. Grey, No. 581 of the 12th December, 1907, which refers not only to the piracy, but also to this registration question. I propose to address your Lordship in a separate despatch on this question, but I fear that I shall be unable to do so in time to catch the outgoing mail which is due to leave immediately.
Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed) F. D. LUGARD,
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Admiral Sir A. Moore to Governor Sir F. Lugard.
“King Alfred,” at Hong Kong, December 22, 1907.
WITH reference to the question of the suppression of piracy in the West River and Canton Delta, your Excellency is aware that, in consequence of the refusal of the Viceroy of Canton to entertain the "Sainan" claim and to adopt satisfactory measures to protect foreign traders, the British patrol of the waterways has been augmented.
The increased patrol has now been an established fact for three weeks, and although the Viceroy has expostulated, and a great outcry was made in the local press, no definite result has been arrived at, and from reports received, I gather that the outcry is diminishing, and that the populace show no hostile feeling to us—in fact, rather the reverse.
There is a danger, consequently, that the authorities at Canton, realizing that the clamour is confined to agitators, and is not from the people generally, and that our action is not altogether unpopular, may be inclined to accept the situation and do nothing either to satisfy our claim or to take effective steps themselves to protect the waterways.
I think, therefore, that the time has arrived to take further action to bring home to the Viceroy that it is by no means our intention to abate our claim for compensation in the "Sainam" case, or to allow the present insecure state of trade in the waterways to continue, and I propose to telegraph to the Admiralty to that effect. The question will then arise as to what action short of forcible measures can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy,
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