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the right to board every British ship, examine her
papers, ascertain the amount of coal and stores
!
on board, and officially knows what her cargo 13
composed of and, in fact, all details connected
with her
In the usual course, this information is pro-
fessional but we have a German Consul here and it
follows that he knows all that his nationals know.
Times of Departure and where bound.
The Harbour Master has also the right, in
fact it is his duty, to board all men-of-war and
berth them and immediately has to report where they
are from and where bound.
If all such information
is not forthcoming to the satisfaction of the Comm-
issioner, the steamer (merchant) can be detained
and her clearance refused.
With the taking of Tsingtao, active war opera-
tions ceased on the China Coast, but it is unnecess-
ary for me to labour the subject, you will quickly
see the incongruity of the whole affair and the
danger to British shipping that might ensue, should
active hostilities be resumed in the East. Had the
Singapore trouble not been checked in time, we
might