في ام الحماية اللابد
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.19899
AFFAIRS OF CHINĂ.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[42743]
No. 1.
264
November 22.]
SECTION 2.
Rze 9 DECOC
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.Received November 22.)
(No. 399. Confidential.) Sir,
Peking, November 1, 1909. IN my despatch No. 321, Confidential, of the 8th September last, I had the honour to report that the French appeared to have modified their attitude towards the Chinese Postal Administration, which they were now content to leave under the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs. M. Boissonnas, the French chargé d'affaires, on whose authority this statement was made, has recently been moving in the matter, and his action as the enclosed extract from a local newspaper will show, has attracted adverse criticism here.
As soon as this attack on him was published M. Boissonnas took an opportunity of drawing the attention of the Wai-wu Pu to the subject, and an apology, copy of which is likewise enclosed, was inserted in a subsequent issue of the journal.
The statements made in the article are, M. Boissonnas states, inaccurate and misleading. He says that, so far from advocating the separation of the Postal Adminis- tration from the Customs, he pointed out the unwisdom of such a step, seeing that the Customs revenue contributes 400,000 tacls a-year to the maintenance of the postal system. All he urged, he asserts, was that M. Piry, the postal commissioner, should be given rank equivalent to that of the deputy inspector-general of customs, that his emoluments should be increased, and that he should have the right of direct inter- course in all postal matters with the Board of Communications. According to M. Boissonnas, the Minister of Communications is strongly opposed to the continuance of the present system, and holds that the direction of the Postal Administration should be vested in his Board as soon as circumstances permit.
M. Boissonnas attributes the attack upon him in the press to the inspiration of Sir Robert Bredon, and cites the following facts in support of his assertion. He called upon Sir Robert Bredon before his interview at the Board of Communi- cations, and informed him of the action he intended to take. After the attention of the Wai-wu Pu had been drawn to the article, Sir Robert Bredon approached M. Piry with a view of ascertaining what form of apology would satisfy M. Boissonnas. The apology itself, which was originally drafted by a member of the Wai-wu Pu, was sent to Sir Robert Bredon for approval, and bears, M. Boissonnas considers, internal evidence of his revision. Altogether the incident has produced somewhat strained relations between M. Boissonnas and the acting inspector-general of customs.
M. Piry, it should in fairness be added, is something of an intriguer, and it is not improbable that he was taking advantage of the present unsettled state of the Customs service and of his friendship with M, Boissonnas to consolidate and improve his own position as postal commissioner, more especially as M. Boissannas will hand over charge of the legation to the new Minister in a few days.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
SC June
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Extract from the "Peking Daily News" of October 25, 1909.
BREACH OF DIPLOMATIC ETIQUETTE,
WE learn that the French chargé d'affaires, uninvited, went to see the Presidents of the Board of Posts and Communications the other day, firstly, to ascertain whether the Board is going to take over the administration of the postal service, and, secondly, if so, he wished to recommend M. Piry, the postal secretary of the Inspectorate- General of Post, as competent for the position of inspector-general of the same
service.
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