)
“j alosyre
re No. 3 in 'r. Fox's No. 69. General Suries, of June 18th. 1:09
214
Gentlemon,
H.B.M. Consulate-Ceneral,
Canton, June 16th. 1909.
28112
JUL 26 09
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your lettor of
yesterday's date, asking me to persuade the Portuguese
Consul-General at Canton to hold an enquiry into the case
of the watchman lioronha, accused of having caused the
death of a Chinese passoner on the steamer "Fatahan"
on November 30th. last.
I regret that I do not see my way to comply with
your request.
The Portuguese Consul-Genoral has, as you are
aware, repeatedly offered to hold a formal enquiry, con-
ducted in accordance with Portuguese law, into this case,
but the Chinese Authorities have, for various reasons,
boen unable to accept this offer. The principal ostensible
reason was that the "hinese Authorities dem nded a joint
enquiry, to which the Consul-General could not agree, but
a consideration which weighed more with the Authorities, asre Butterfield and Swire,
I
Hongkong.