COPY.
No. 11.
(& 3 copies)
Copied to: Shanghai,
Tientsin.
Sir,
BRITISH CONSULATE-GENERAL.
TSINGTAO.
17th May, 1935.
113
(7)
With reference to Tsingtao despatch No. 5 of
February 25th I have the honour to report that the arrange -
ments for the search of passengers and their luggage by the
Chinese police before embarkation on the China Navigation
Company's steamers had not been in force more than three
weeks, before I received a request from the local agent to
inform the police that the company considered that searching
by them would no longer be required, since the company had
increased the number of Russian guards on board by two and
that all necessary searching could be done by the guards on
the ship.
2. The reasons for this change of plan were, firstly
that the company was afraid that the search would be the
occasion for some form of extortion by the police, and
secondly that the better class of passenger objected to the
indignity of a personal search and deserted the company's
steamers for the Japanese line, where no such searching is
in force.
3. The local agent tells me that the search is made
as inoffensive as possible, is conducted at the gangway under
the eye of an officer, and has so far given rise to no
complaints.
The police are not searching at all now, though
Sir Alexander Cadogan, K.C.M.G., C.B..
The Honourable
etc..
eto. His Majesty's Minister,
etc.
Peiping.
the/