21
3.
a conference of the principal British authorities,
whom I have named, would, I venture to think, be in
British territory, and for that reason I propose that
the meeting place should be Hong Kong.
H
I value very much your outspoken letter, and
I shall reply with the same frankness. As you know,
I wished to return to Hong Kong through Siberia and
visit you at Peking en route. Our Foreign Office,
however, refused to give me a passport for the journey
across Siberia and, therefore, I was not able to
confer with you before resuming duty in Hong Kong.
Upon my return to Hong Kong, I was faced with
incessant anxieties, due chiefly to the drought in
Hong Kong and to the continual state of unrest in
Kwangtung and Kwangsi. I was, therefore, not able to
leave the Colony at all until the 1st October, when I
paid a long promised visit to the Governor General of
the #hilippine Islands. I had wanted to do this while
Mr. Stimson was there, and was again invited by Mr.
Davis, and felt that I could not defer such & visit
any longer without an appearance of discourtesy, 28
General Leonard Wood, Mr. Stimson (twice) and Ir. Devis