I am afraid the Viceroy's proclamation has not been, nor will it be, of much value to us in assisting towards more moderate demands by the Self Government Society. The fact appears to be that the Self Government Society feel they are so strong that they need not concern themselves very much with anything the Viceroy may publicly proclaim as long as His orders are not supported by a substantial display of force.
If the Viceroy was anxious to bring matters to a conclusion he could do so in a few hours, by means which the Chinese Government Officials are not slow to put into execution when it suits their purpose. In my opinion the Viceroy's proclamation will not be of any assistance in settling the present boycott against us because it is either not meant to have that effect, which if correct the Self Government Society are doubtless fully cognizant of, or, if the proclamation is bona fide, the Self Government Society are powerful enough to ignore it. Whichever view is correct the result is the same as far as we are concerned, and it leads me to repeat that in my opinion there is only one final solution of the trouble, and that is the suppression of the Self Government Society by orders of the Central Government.
I thought it was understood that I should not forward you the names of the Shippers in Hongkong who were boycotting our steamers until after we had seen the result of our overtures to the Self Government Society. Personally I do not think that your interviewing them just now would bear much fruit, as the Shippers are not really antagonistic to...