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2. In regard to the latter, I note that his Excellency takes exception to the action I am taking to comply with my instructions to increase our patrol service, and stating that the prevention of piracy belongs properly to the internal administration of China, that it will be an infraction of the sovereign rights of China, and an act that would not be carried out by a friendly Power.
I would remind his Excellency that the right of Great Britain to patrol the inland-waterways around Canton has been recognized by China since 1898, when the continued acts of piracy against British vessels obliged the British Government to send the “Sandpiper" into the Canton delta, those waters being then a very hotbed of piracy. In February 1899 the British Consul reported that piracies were almost of daily occurrence, that a reign of terror existed in the waterways, and matters became so bad that His Majesty's ship "Tweed" and a torpedo-boat were sent into the West River to reinforce the "Sandpiper," and later two more gun-boats (the "Moorhen" and "Robin") were added to the patrolling service.
I entirely agree with the Viceroy that the prevention of piracy belongs properly to the internal administration of China, and his Excellency may rest assured that the British Government would be thankful if they could be relieved from the necessity of taking preventive measures themselves to protect British vessels—action which has been forced upon us by the failure of the provincial authorities to suppress piracy, and the laxity and supineness with which the Chinese guard-boats carry out their duties.
Personally I feel very strongly that the effective patrol of the rivers and delta is the duty of the local authorities themselves, and that our vessels should not be utilized except as a last resource, and then only in a friendly co-operation with the provincial authorities. It was this feeling that prompted me to advocate so strongly that the Chinese Patrol Service should be supplemented by fast launches under the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs. Something had to be done, for piracies went on year after year, and the ineffectiveness of the guard-boats had been clearly demonstrated, and this proposal appeared to be the only means by which the patrol service could be strengthened and rendered efficient and still remain under the control of the provincial authorities. It is a matter of great regret to me that the Viceroy should take up such an uncompromising and antagonistic attitude, not only to this particular scheme, but to our efforts in general for the suppression of piracy in Chinese waters. I deprecate strongly his Excellency's reference to my action in increasing our patrol and I trust he will, on further reflection, take a more friendly view of the matter, and realize that this measure, which is only a repetition of the events of 1899, has been forced upon us in self-protection. Instead of regarding it as an infraction of the rights of China, and as an unfriendly act, if he will understand that what we are doing is as much in the interests of China as of ourselves, and will lend us his co-operation by instructing the provincial authorities, officials, and patrol-boats and Customs officers to afford our vessels facilities in carrying out their duties, I feel sure that the result will be a considerable increase in the security of trade in the waterways; and, as law and order is gradually restored, so the patrol service of the British gun-boats will be able to be increased.
3. Adverting once more to the "Sainam" compensation claim, Viceroy Chang has declined to recognize the obligation to pay compensation for the outrage. I should be glad if you would call the attention of his Excellency to the fact that such obligation has previously been recognized, as the following case, of which no doubt a record exists in his archives, will show.
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In January 1901, while the steam-ship Nanning was proceeding up the West River she was fired at from the shore, and the Reverend C. E. Cowan, R.N., Chaplain of His Majesty's ship "Glory," who was a passenger on board, was wounded in the leg. At a joint Anglo-Chinese inquiry, which was held at Canton, it was proved that the shots were fired by pirates, and the Viceroy subsequently paid Mr. Cowan the sum of 3,000 dollars as compensation for the injury inflicted.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
A. W. MOORE, Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
(Separate.)
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Inclosure 20 in No. 1.
Consul Goffe to Sir J. Jordan.
Sir,
Wuhu, November 23, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to bring to your notice two articles in the "Shih Pao" of the 21st instant criticizing the action of the Chinese Government in permitting British gun-boats to patrol the West River.
By allowing the British, says the first article, to interfere in the internal administration of the Empire China has reduced herself to the level of a protected Power. The granting of the right to exercise police functions will speedily be followed by a demand for the control of the army, the direction of education, and the collection of taxes, all the result of the Wai-wu Pu's policy of seeking to gain the favour of foreigners by acquiescing in their extravagant demands.
The writer then calls attention to the fact that the granting of a privilege to any one Power is speedily followed by demands for equality of treatment from other Powers, and he complains that the Wai-wu Pu in allowing the British to undertake the policing of the West River are simply courting disaster.
The second article is couched in a similar strain, and takes the Wai-wu Pu to task for not having met the demands of the British Minister with an undertaking to reform the existing gun-boat service on the West River. "The present Wai-wu Pu is the British people's Wai-wu Pu, and is not fit to be trusted with the interests of the Empire,"
The writer concludes by calling on the Chinese from every part of the Empire to sink their local differences and unite in resisting the Wai-wu Pu, even to the extent of taking up arms as a last resource.
I have, &c.
(Signed) HERBERT GOFFE.
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