343
power of the Firm, however anxious they might be to do so,
to guarantee the action of the Portuguese Consul and saying
)
that they could not offer more than they had already done.
Mr. Law informed me that if the Government would guarantee
to indemnify them for all loss he was willing to fight it
out, otherwise he could not expose the Firm to the
enormous loss which an effective Boycott would entail.
9.
I consider that Messrs. Butterfield and Swire ought to have kept me fully informed of
these serious developments, seeing that the attitude
adopted by Chinese Merchants in Hongkong is a matter of
serious concern to the Government. A stage has now been
reached in which it is exceedingly difficult for the
Government to intervene.
10.
I told Mr. Law that in the
circumstances I could neither advise him to send or to
withhold his draft letter. It was not what I would have
written myself, and I did not like it. The action of the
Self-Government Society towards a Firm wholly innocent of
any culpability is of the nature of Blackmail and surrender
will only place them under the heel of the Blackmailer.
Still it was wholly impossible for this Government or any
Government to guarantee them an indemnification of loss if
they