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Sir G. Grindle.
Far Eastern Department.
You will see that as the result of
a visit I paid to the Foreign Office yesterday
morning, the Secretary of State has decided
not to send a letter complaining about our
not having been kept informed of the negotiations about the Boxer Indemnity.
I saw Sir R. Lindsay in the first
instance, but as he knew nothing about the
matter I agreed to see Sir V. Wellesley, and
confined my discussion with Sir R. Lindsay to the general question. During our discussion
he pointed out the difficulties with which he
had to contend owing to certain high officials
not seeing eye to eye in the matter.
I then saw Sir V. Wellesley, who had
no idea that we had not been kept fully informed
of the negotiations that had taken place and
was very apologetic, as he said we most
certainly ought to have been sent the telegrams. He took me to the Department and in my presence enquired as to why this had not been done.
The explanation apparently is that
when the question was first raised in the Summer,
the officer who usually dealt with the question
was away on leave, and whoever was acting for
him did not apparently realise that copies
of the telegrams should be sent to us. The
official in question admitted that he ought to
have noticed this when he returned from leave
and remedied the mistake, and also seen that
copies
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