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428
Headquartere of Commer- cial Attaché in China.
The "Open door" in Manchuria.
XVI.
of their failure, retained. The General Committee considered that the first necessity in dealing with such a situation, should it arise, was that all nationalities at present owning postal agencies in China should be unanimous on the subject, before any action or recommendation was possible. In the present circumstances it is not possible to consult Germany, and the question may therefore very well be postponed. Interesting correspondence has passed on the subject but it is considered inadvisable to publish it.
This question has for some years been the subject of discussion between the Association and the Authorities, In May, 1914, Sir John Jordan, answering a letter from the Shanghai Branch, in a lengthy Memorandum carefully reviewed and criticised the suggestions made to which, in due course, the Shanghai Branch replied. The whole of the correspondence is most interesting but being confidential, cannot be included in the Appendix. The movement throughout this country in the early months of the war to capture certain trades which had hitherto been in the hands of the Germans was considered by the Committee an opportune moment to make certain suggestions to the Foreign Office having the same end in view in China. Accordingly, as the work and duties of the office had become so multifarious as to be beyond the scope of one Attaché, the Association ventured to recommend the appointment of three Assistants, whose headquarters should be at Tientsin, Shanghai and Canton respectively, the Commercial Attaché himself residing at Peking, and having the services of a Chinese subordinate. In offering these suggestions the Committee emphasised the opinion that a thorough knowledge of the Chinese language and some experience of commercial affairs were indispensable. These recommendations were made in October (v. pages 61/62 in the Appendix), and we understand that so far only one additional appointment has been made.
The attention of the Committee has again been called to the preferential treatment of Japanese goods entering Manchuria via Dairen and Antung. Representations have accordingly been made to the Foreign Office on the subject, and it is satisfactory to note, from information given in reply to a question in the House of Commons on the 10th March, that the Japanese Government have promised to grant the same privileges to goods from foreign countries as are accorded to Japanese merchandise, Correspondence will be found on Pages 21/37 in the Appendix.
XVII.
Chinese
The increasing frequency and seriousness of piratical attacks in Southern Pirsoy in China ou British as well as Chinese vessels, particularly on the West River, Watera. gave rise to much uneasiness in Hongkong and was followed by a demand for stern measures of repression. So serious did the outbreaks become that it was even urged, since the haunts of the pirates were quite well known to the native authorities at Canton, that they should be pressed to exterminate whole villages in which they lived. The Committee without being able to endorse so drastic a recommendation, recognised that the time had come for the adoption of such measures as would make further attacks a question not alone of extreme difficulty but of real peril to the pirates. The trouble was to suggest means which could be compassed without the expenditure of too great an outlay or the utilization of too many patrol boats, which it was believed the Navy would not be inclined to lend. In the scheme recommended by the Committee the system of patrols for steamers engaged upon the Hongkong- Canton service between Cap-shui-mun and Whampoa and the reverse, and for those engaged in the West River service, between Cap-shui-mun and Wang- mun and the reverse, was made in consultation with Captain Clarke, whose local experience enabled him to suggest practical steps to deal with this dangerous state of affairs. Further details will be found at pages 13/20 of the Appendix; it should be added that the outbreak of War in Europe precluded the use of British patrol boats, but the Chinese authorities, in a scheme communicated to H. M. Minister, proposed certain measures to cope with the situation, which must be judged adequate since, so far as we know, no recrudescence of piracy has been reported.
of Limited
The new Order in Council will go a long way to remedy an anomalous kegistration state of affairs under which aliens have hitherto been in a position to register companies Companies as British undertakings, while none of their officers were in China. amenable to British jurisdiction.
Rates.
This question, which arose entirely owing to restrictions found necessary Telegraph by the war, resulted in considerable correspondence, a material portion of which will be found at pages 38/49 of the Appendix.
Perusal of the letters will at once demonstrate that the Committee spared no pains in an endeavour to suggest remedies for the mitigation of restrictions which were handicapping trade with the Far East. That they were not more successful is regrettable; but must be set down to the exigencies of the
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