476
frustrated by the prompt action of His Majesty's Minister
at Feking and the Consul-General at Canton acting on the
instructions of His Majesty's Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, has formed the subject of appeals and
protests by the Merchants concerned, and by the local
Chamber of Commerce, which have in turn been the subject of
continual strongly worded representations to the Chinese
Government by His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking
in the name of His Majesty's Government but up to the
present date without effect, for the Regulations remain in
force, and the situation today is practically the same as
it was in May last.
Sir Henry Hay, who administered
the Government in my absence, has addressed 17 Despatches
aggregating with their enclosures some 322 pages, (besides
a printed Memorandum of 37 pages) to Lord Crewe on this
subject, and I fear that the unavoidable bulk of these
representations (dealing with specific cases) may have
tended to some extent to obscure the main issues. I venture
therefore to re-state briefly the points which appear to me
from a perusal of these documents to demand immediate and
serious attention.
1.
His Majesty's Government have
stated