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gunboats could have taken, except to open fire on
the city or blockade the river, acts wilch had been
expressly forbidden. In this comection the
Governor writes "we knew that any rolaxation of our
naval action before the boycott was entirely removed
would be interpreted by the Canton Boviet to mean
that we shrank from the consequences of such action".
What are these consequences to which he refers?
If His Excellency's annoyance over this matter is
analysed, it is clear, and it was clear to me at the
time, that as he urgently desired warlike measures
to be taken, he honed that the naval action in
Canton, if pushed far enough, would have aa a con-
sequence an incident which would make war inevitable.
I take it, however, that it would be utterly inexcu- sable in a Consular officer, or even a Colonial Governor, to try and force the nands of his govern-
ment and bring them into a state of hostilities,
which they clearly and emphatically desired to
avoid.
6.
hat I did, therefore, was the only thing
which it was possible for me to do. I continued my
efforts to bring about a cessation of the boycott by peaceful means, and, having regard to all the cir-
cumstances, i was as successful as could reasonably be expected. The boycott was stopped, at all events in Canton, and the pickets were withdrawn. Trade
with HongkoNE
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