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Society at Canton unless the Government took some energetic steps to assert itself. I therefore issued a Proclamation under the Peace Preservation Ordinance and sentenced several leading Chinese Merchants and others, who were the leaders of the movement here to banishment. The effect was for the moment to imbue the Chinese with a fear of the Government greater than their fear of the Self-Government Society and the principal men hastened to dissociate themselves from the participation in the acts of that Society.
2. Conf. as described in my Despatch Secret of 30th January, 1909.
4. On 29th November, 1908, however, an incident occurred of which the agitators were not slow to avail themselves. Among the vessels which run daily between Hongkong and Canton is one named the "Fatshan" owned by Messrs. Butterfield and Swire. It is the desire of the Chinese to die and be buried in their own country, and for this reason when a man feels seriously ill he generally if possible takes passage to Canton. Large numbers of plague corpses, and of exhumed bones are for this reason constantly transported in these boats to Canton and many moribund persons are, I am informed, to be found among the passengers. Such a person took passage by the "Fatshan" on the 29th of last November. The ticket collector