they held out. Since no overt act of intimidation or outrage had occurred I was without any weapon to assist him, and it did not seem to me that the British Government could adopt any other line than that adopted by America and Japan in the case of previous Boycotts. I requested him to have a photograph made of the Self-Government Society's letter (which he was under an obligation to return) and to inform me of the names of the local Chinese Merchants who have been constant shippers, and have now refused to ship by his vessels. I promised to represent the matter fully to Your Lordship. Messrs. Butterfield and Swire having large interests at all Chinese Ports address the Minister at Peking direct.
11. Mr. Law enquired whether in my view the action taken was not contrary to China's treaties. I replied that no Treaty can compel an individual to trade with one Firm rather than with another, and I did not think that it could possibly be maintained that any specific breach had been made. I thought, however, that the circumstances taken as a whole, including the known facts regarding the "Fatshan" and supported by the important letter from the Self-Government Society, would go far to prove an attempt to blackmail by a body whose existence
Page 360
Page 361