(Translation.) Sir,
4
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Viceroy of Canton to Consul-General Mansfield.
Canton, November 16, 1907. TAOTAI WEN, of the Foreign Affairs Bureau, has informed me that you told him that the American launch "Hong Fu" had been pirated in the neighbourhood of Waichow, that lives had been lost, and that you asked me to appoint an official to make arrests and deal with the matter properly. I at once telegraphed to Prefect Ch'en, of Waichow, and Taotai Wang, in charge of police affairs in the East River country, to find out in what military and civil district the piracy took place, and to set a limit of ten days to civil and military officials and officers of the land and water police to discover and arrest the pirates concerned, recover and return their booty, and report by telegraph, in detail, the circumstances of the occurrence for my information. I have now received a telegram from the Prefect of Waichow, as follows:
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The master, Kuo A-t'ao, of the non-towing launch 'Hung Fu,' flying the British flag, and plying between Canton and Waichow, reports that on the 10th November, while on his way from Canton to Waichow, his launch was pirated by seven pirates disguised as passengers. At 10 P.M., when the launch had reached Shachiao Tsui, in Chin-hua, in the district of Pok-lo, the pirates, intimidating the people on board by arms, plundered the boat of money and goods and shot two passengers. They then landed and escaped. The losses amounted to 65 dol. 50 c., together with clothing, &c., worth 40 dollars, of which he presented a list. I summoned passengers on the launch and made inquiries of them. They stated that on the day in question there were only some twenty passengers, male and female. After the second watch the pirates pretended to fight and engaged in a struggle with one another. A sailor of the navy, Liu Mao-sheng, going to Waichow on business, and two Hunanese, happened to be on board, and knew that a piracy was about to be committed. Liu Mao-sheng then, with the two Hunanese passengers, came forward and upset one of the pirates, but their fellow passengers simply looked on and gave no assistance, with the result that he was slain by a shot from one of the pirates, as was also one of the Hunanese. After plundering the launch they brought it along shore, landed, and escaped. It appears that the place of the piracy was distant from the station of a sailing gun-boat only about a mile, but the launch did not whistle. Afterwards, hearing the sound of the firing, it went to the launch's assistance, but the latter had already been put along the shore, with the result that the pirates had already escaped. A pursuit proved futile. I am instructing the Kueishan Magistrate to speedily hold an inquest and bury the bodies of the slain, and am also strictly ordering the authorities, civil and military, to make secret investigations, arrest the offenders, and punish them.
I am strictly ordering the Pok-lo Magistrate to do so, and to consult with the military officials and officers of steam and sailing gun-boats of the locality for the loaning of braves and runners, to offer rewards and purchase information, and to request the civil and military authorities of Lien-feng Hsien immediately to make secret investigation with a view to the arrest of the pirates, every one of those concerned in this case to be arrested within the limit of ten days, booty to be discovered and returned, and a Report to be made. I am also instructing all the officials concerned, civil and military, to arrest and punish them after trial.
Compliments.
(No. 60.) Sir,
Inclosure 6 in No. 1.
Consul-General Mansfield to Sir J. Jordan.
Canton, December 1, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to report upon the present state of the negotiations with the Provincial Government attendant upon Admiral Sir A. W. Moore's visit to Canton in connection with the suppression of piracy in these waters.
Copy and translation of the Viceroy's proposed scheme, to which reference is made in your telegram No. 52 of the 12th instant, is inclosed; also copies of two memoranda thereon, prepared respectively by Mr. Paul H. King, Commissioner of Customs, and Lieutenant-Commander R. E. Vaughan, Senior Naval Officer on the West River.
The Viceroy's proposals generally are unsatisfactory, and notably in the following respects:
Article 1. Extent of Waterways. This is given as 230 miles from Feng Ch'uan to Chu Tou Shan; the actual distance is 145 miles, and the total extent, Kuangsi excluded, is over 600 miles.
The Viceroy explained in conversation that the patrol of the particular stretch of water mentioned was merely intended as a commencement — an explanation I consider of small value.
Additional Four Fast Cruisers.—There is no evidence of any intention to place these craft under customs control with foreign officers; their speed is also inadequate.
Articles 2 and 3. System of Patrol.—This, as the remarks upon Article 1 will have shown, is valueless.
Article 4. Pursuit of Pirates.—In view of Article 1, the assistance expected from the patrolling launches cannot take effect along the whole of the waterways. Further, there is no statement made of what the measures to insure increased activity on the part of the military on shore are to be. Briefly, the soldiers are to go in pursuit, and, if they fail, are to be liable to the severest penalties. Nothing is said of the responsibility of the civil territorial authorities, or of their liability to pay compensation.
Article 5. Landing and Embarkation.—There is under the Inland Waters Regulations no limit to these places.
Article 6. Times of Arrival and Departure of Launches.—The proposal is not feasible in tidal waters.
Article 7. Article 8.
Routes of Launches.—The routes are all well known.
Examination of Launches en route.—There appears to be no objection to this, provided there is no protracted delay.
Article 9. Guards on Launches.—This is objectionable. I was prepared during Viceroy Chou Fu's time to give the system a trial on his urgent and repeated requests, and because I had some faith in his bona fides. Conditions have changed,
Article 10. Search for Arms.—The establishment of examination stations at important shipping centres recommends itself (see Lieutenant-Commander Vaughan's Memorandum).
To summarize, the scheme as a whole is worthless; nor have I the slightest belief that, even if it were otherwise, it would, without some foreign control, be efficiently executed. The efforts of the local authorities in these matters are never more than a "flash in the pan." Under pressure when outrages occur they exert themselves to some extent; a period of quietude follows, and they are lulled into a sense of false security.
The Admiral paid a ceremonial call on the Viceroy on the 19th instant, the visit being returned the following day, when, by previous arrangement, the discussion on the piracy question was held. I had the honour, in my telegrams Nos. 59 and 60 of the 20th and 21st instant, to report to you the unsatisfactory result of this interview, and now inclose a Memorandum of the conversation prepared by Mr. Vice-Consul Sly. On the 21st instant the Viceroy sent me a despatch, copy and translation inclosed, recording his refusal stated at the interview to place the additional four fast launches under customs control with foreign officers. The same day I received from him copy of the telegram from the Wai-wa Pu, as embodied in my telegram to you No. 60, in which you are misrepresented as having withdrawn your demand for the employment of foreign officers. On the 23rd November the Admiral addressed to the Viceroy his despatch No. 222, copy of which his Excellency is sending to you, based upon your telegram No. 60 of the previous day, dispatched after the receipt of his telegram of the 21st instant and my Nos. 59 and 60. Copy and translation of the Viceroy's reply, concerning which I had the honour to telegraph to you on the 28th ultimo, No. 62, is forwarded herewith. Copy both of the despatch and telegram have also been sent to the Admiral under date the 28th November, copy inclosed.
A.
Viewing the whole situation, I cannot but regard it as in the highest degree unsatisfactory, while there is evidence of gross bad faith on the part of either the Imperial or Provincial Government, or both.
The demand to place the additional four fast launches under Customs control with foreign officers has been indignantly refused. The argument that no responsibility attaches to the Provincial Government to pay compensation for piratical attacks upon British ships is firmly maintained, and in its place there is an indefinite offer of a compassionate allowance to the widow of Dr. Macdonald. You are misrepresented as having withdrawn your demand for the employment of foreign officers on the proposed launches under Customs control, while neither in the Viceroy's scheme nor in conversation
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