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Frenchman in Saigon or in Japan; there is nothing in the Chao Chow Convention or in any law which makes an exception in favour of such defendants in China, save only in the case dealt with in Ordinance 1 of 1851.
The whole question of Letters of Request has been recently considered at home, and here by direction of the Secretary of State. And in my reply to Your Excellency's letter of 5th November, 1907, on the subject - I informed Your Excellency that I was considering the question specially in connexion with letters of request to China. There is no reason why the same practice should not apply to China, except the practical one that correspondence with the Chinese Authorities is difficult, and for this reason therefore it seems to me, so I said above, that Article 29 of the Order in Council was drafted in its present broad language. It authorises the Court to request the Consuls to serve British subjects, and to sequest their good offices in the case of other defendants.
It was for this reason that in the case of a Chinese defendant, as in this case, the Consul has been requested to approach the Chinese Authorities to effect service.
I have annexed copies of the application and of the Letters of Request issued in this case as well as a printed form; it will be seen that, except for the substitution