170
The questions dealt with in the correspondence
to which I have the honour to invite your attention do, in my opinion, constitute a distinct and so far as I know, an un- precedented invasion of the province of the diplomatic and
consular authorities in China. The correspondence was not
on
carriei between subordinate officials on the frontier of the
two teri itories. It was conducted between the Colonial Sec-
retary and an emissary of the Viceroy of Canton under the
direct orders of the Governor and it establishes to all in-
tents and purposes direct communication between the Viceroy
and the Governor over the head of the Consul General at Can-
ton.
It relates not to the escape of fugitive criminals
or matters of immediate urgency on the frontier, but to
methods of extradition between the two Goverments, to aui-
gration questions, to the Working Agreement for the Canton-
Kowloon railway, to the regulation of newspapers, and to other
matters in all of which the Consulate General is ignored.
Had lir.
One instance will suffice to illustrate my meaning.
Jamieson been consulted about the proposal that a Chinese
official