12
•
they might be open to criticism if it became
refugees
known that some of the had offered to make a
reasonable offer to repay the cost of their
passages home.
The F.O., however, took the line that
their previous experience showed that it was
very difficult to get back money advanced
for passages in these circumstances, and they
would much sooner wait and see for a week or
Comidering
two what happened before starting any scheme
of the kind proposed. They pointed out that
the telegrams did not suggest that a large
number of cases were involved.
As it is the F.O. who will have to defend
in conne chiar with
any vote for maintaining these refugees, it
seemed desirable to put their view to the
Governor, and I annex a draft in which the
Foreign Office and Treasury have concurred, and
Mr. Bigg has also seen.
I should perhaps add that I drew Mr. Wardley's
attention to the point that the F.0. would not
normally consider repatriating destitute British
subjects from a Colony, and that as these
refugees came from Shanghai presumably they
would be treated as refugees from abroad. He
told me that they had raised no objection to meeting expenditor
British subjects in Spain who had been repatriated
by way of Gibraltar.
A Bri
8.9. 37.