7
08.
.3812/1911.
Enclosure, in Sir John Jordan's the 304 of
Jely 25,
27929
RECO
387
RIO 26 40CERNDENT HOUSE,
31792 Hongkong, 10th. July, 1911.
AUG 1917
gir,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch of June 21st transmitting a copy of yours to Sir E. Grey of June 17th., and I note with much regret that you take serious exception to my action in regard to certain recent negotiations
which have taken place between myself and the Chinese Provincial
Authorities at Canton. I trust that a somewhat fuller expla-
nation of these matters will alter the views to which you give
expression.
2. I have during the last year had to deal with an un-
precedented outbreak of crime in this Colony, of a very serious
kind. Armed robberies accompanied by violence had become of
constant, almost daily, occurrence both on land and water, many
· murders were committed, and burglaries and minor crimes were
excessively frequent. One of the Chinese Members of the
Legislative Council sought an interview with me and informed me
that he had never known so bad a state of things during his long
residence in the Colony. Every effort was made during 1910
to cope with this situation, but with no very marked succes8,
since it is open to a criminal to at once escape to China, and
he is probably in Canton before the crime is even reported to
the Police.
3.
On January 3rd last His Excellency Chang Ming Chi
passed through Hongkong on his way to assume office as Viceroy
of
Britannic Majesty's Minister,
PEKING.
ま
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