215
:
I have reason to know, was the fact that no Court, Chinese
or foreign, would have recorded a conviction on the ey
idence brow ht forward in the cas0.
It is, moreover, within your knowledge that for
many weaks in December and January last I used my boat
endeavours to effect a compromise in the matter between
the Chinese and Portuguese Authorities, and that I only
desiatod when it uses became evident that the task I had
set myself was a hopeless onc.
My last move in the matter was to persuade my
Portuguese colleague to ask for an interview with the
Vicoroy, at which the former wa quite prepared to make
certain concessions. This interview was refused, and from
that date onward the question of a fresh enquiry at the
Portuguese Consulate has by mutuel consent been allowod
to drop.
You will, I think, agree with me that under the
circumstances my intervention at the present juncture
would be fruitless and might quite possibly lead to a
recrudescence of the agitation which the authorities
concerned