243
34.
Canton No. 173 of Nov. 25, 1929 (p.29
in 5 Y.)
11. M. Consul-General Canton gives viewS on November confer ences at Hongkong.
the question.
Mr. Fernandes said Macao had been
offered the same agreement as Hongkong, but he would do nothing until Hongkong's attitude had been de-
fined.
35. In sending to the Legation copy of the
Governor's report to C.0. of November 20 (see para,
33 above) H. K. Consul-General at Canton corroborated
the Governor's observations as to the sentiments
of the Hongkong interests towards the Agreement.
The suggestion to drop Article 5 had met with no
response. The veiled threat contained in Doctor
C.T. Vang's message to H.M. Minister had only ex-
acerbated matters; this feeling was increased by
the report of similar remarks attributed to the
Customs Commissioner, Colonel Hayley-Bell. Mr.
Moss considered that the limitation of Article 5
to the two Kwang provinces was no real concession.
He found that the members of the conferences fully
realised that failure to conclude an agreement woul
re-act unfavourably not only locally but generally;
all the same, there was a still stronger feeling
that nothing less than what was asked for would
compensate for the grant of the privileges sought
by the Chinese. The general idea was that the
Hongkong offer would at any rate avoid the break-
ing off of negotiations, and in the meantime the
political situation in China might clarify; Mr.
Moss thought it was probably this idea of gaining
time that also prompted the Governor to consult
the 0.0. before approaching Mr. Maze again. He
said that a scheme propounded by the Superintendent
of Import and Exports, by which the Colonial au-
/thorities