35
and could only succeed by intimidation was furnished by the fact that the Commissioner had five hundred applicants for every vacancy in the Chinese staff. IS was expected that the strike would begin after pay day the 29th November (Peking telegram to Foreign Office
No. 471 of the 26th November). The British Foreign
Office, on being informed of these facts, telegraphed deprecating any interference by British or other Con-
cession police or the landing of naval parties at
Hankow except actually in the defence of foreign lives, thinking it preferable to allow the trade ports to be stopped for a time, if unavoidable, rather than to risk
an armed clash between British and Chinese (Foreign
Office telegram to Peking No. 353 of the 30th November).
The United States' Government also refused to authorize
armed protection of the Customs house (Peking telegram
to Foreign Office dated the 30th November). On the 1st
December the Foreign Office telegraphed that the alarm-
ing situation which had arisen at Hankow might probably
be due to the refusal of Sir F. Aglen to afford co-opera-
tion at Canton, as requested by the Nationalist Govern. --
ment and that it should be made quite clear to him that
there was no prospect whatever that force would be used.
to protect the Customs house from seizure, adding however:-
"To save the Customs administration is our primary object *
(Foreign Office telegram to Peking No. 361).
40..
O'Malley had a long conversation with Sir F. Aglen and
at the end of several hours extracted from him the state-
ment that, if the Cantonese authorities invited him to
collect the surtaxes at Hankow, and if the Powers owing
On the afternoon of the 2nd December, Mr.
to
145