PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTIC.O. 882
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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letter, we would ask you to take note of the fact that we shall use the special code word "Referendo" to mean "Referring to our letter of the 9th July."
Commander Crutchley, R.N.R.,
Secretary, Navy League, London.
am, &c.,
HENRY E. POLLOCK,
Hon. Secretary,
Navy League, Hong Kong Branch.
P.S.-Since the above letter was drafted, we have received mail papers from home, from which we note with astonishment that the native City of Kowloon has been exempted from the territory leased.
We cannot help thinking that such a concession to the Chinese has been a serious blunder, and will be misinterpreted as a sign of weakness, and it will, in our opinion, inevitably lead to trouble and friction and unseemly altercation with the Chinese officials in Kowloon City. Upon this point we attach for your information, an extract* from a leading article in the "Hong Kong Daily News" of yesterday's date, and we may say that we thoroughly endorse the statements contained in that extract.-H. E. P.
DRAR SIR,
Enclosure 2 in No. 24.
Navy League, Hong Kong Branch,
Hong Kong, July 14, 1898. With reference to the postscript to my letter to you of the 9th instant, I would beg leave to point out a further grave objection against the reservation of Kowloon City for the use of the Chinese, namely, the fact that, inasmuch as Kowloon City is situated on the shore of Kowloon Bay, such a reservation would carry with it of necessity a right for vessels of war belonging to the Chinese and other nations, upon the pretext of proceeding to Kowloon City, to steam through the Lyemoon Pass and to anchor in Kowloon Bay.
This would be a most serious matter from the point of view of the defence of this Colony, for it is essential that we should have the sole, absolute, and unquestionable right to seal up the Lyemoon Pass, and to prevent any vessels of whatever nationality from coming in through it, if we at any time think fit.
This matter, in fact, struck my Committee as of so much importance that we telegraphed to you on the 11th instant as follows :—
"Kowloon City must be included in lease," and we venture to hope that your Com- mittee has been making representations upon the subject to the proper authorities.
There is a very strong feeling in this Colony against the proposed reservation, not only from the defence point of view, but also from the recognition of the fact that such a concession will not only fail to secure the gratitude of the Chinese, but will actually render us weak and contemptible in their eyes, and will considerably lower our national prestige so far as they are concerned.
Commander Crutchley, R.N.R.,
Secretary, Navy League, London.
DEAR SIR,
I am, &c.,
HENRY E. POLlock,
Hon. Secretary, Navy League, Hong Kong Branch.
Enclosure 3 in No. 24..
Navy League, Hong Kong Branch, July 16, 1898. With reference to your letter to us concerning the employment of foreign operators in the office of the Joint Telegraph Companies and inviting suggestions from my Com. mittee upon the subject, I beg leave to inform you that the subject was discussed at a recent meeting of my Committee, and that they then decided to make the following recommendations to your Committee upon the subject, namely:-
(1.) That a separation should be made between the offices and staff of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company and the Great Northern Telegraph Company, because the latter Company must be regarded as being to a great extent under Russian influence.
• Not printed.
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(2.) That only British subjects should be employed as clerks in the Eastern
Extension Company. (3.) That the above objects, (1) and (2), are of so much importance that it would be worth the while of the British Government to pay a subsidy to the Eastern Extension Company in order to achieve such objects. (4.) That Government or Service messages should be sent by way of Labuan
instead of by way of Cape St. James, so far as practicable.
I am, &c.,
HENRY E. POLLOCK,
Hon. Secretary,
Commander Crutchley, R.N.R.,
Secretary, Navy League, London,
19839.
SIB,
(No. 221.)
No. 25.
Navy League, Hong Kong Branch.
ACTING GOVERNOR BLACK to MR. CHAMBERLAIN. (Received September 1, 1898.)
Government House, Hong Kong, July 29, 1898. I HAVE the honour to transmit a copy of a despatch, received on the 25th instant, from Her Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking, enclosing copy of a letter from the Inspector General of Chinese Customs, setting forth the arrangements which, in Sir Robert Hart's opinion, are necessary for the protection of Chinese revenue under the new circumstances created by the extension of Hong Kong territory, and to submit for your consideration comments and observations on the matter treated in Sir Robert Hart's numbered paragraphs, which I follow.
1. I strongly recommend that the Chinese Customs be not formally accorded the right to maintain its office in Hong Kong, and that the Commissioner of Customs be not recognised as a Chinese official, but that he remain, as at present, without official status of any kind. The English Government has always recognised the objections to a Chinese Consul in Hong Kong, and a Consul's functions are strictly limited by law; much more should we object to the establishment in our midst of a Chinese official with ill-defined and unlimited powers.
The Chinese Government should, I think, be permitted to have an agency in the Colony of a purely mercantile character, merely for the purpose of issuing opium certificates, unconnected in any way with any other kinds of goods, and entirely of an unofficial character and beyond the control of any recognised officer of the Chinese Customs. The existing sub-stations, Changchow, Capsuimoon, Laichikok, Fotochow, should be removed to points outside the leased territory-their retention on the present sites would be a fruitful source of friction, and would always be misconstrued by the Chinese mind; there are many points both on the coast and on adjacent islands where the Chinese Customs could establish its new stations.
2. The proposal to give the Chinese Customs the right to levy duties within the Colony of Hong Kong would be a surrender to China of one of the primary functions of Government, and the right of having special jetties where these unprecedented operations would take place is therefore needless to discuss.
3. A somewhat similar argument may be employed against the proposal that Chinese Customs cruisers and launches should be allowed to exercise their functions within British waters. Besides being an infringement of our sovereignty, such right of search would interfere in an undue and unreasonable manner with the whole junk trade of the Colony, and could not fail to lead to frequent complications.
Moreover, as these Chinese Customs vessels are officered by men of all nationalities, it would be inexpedient to give them by right such opportunities of reconnaissance and of noting naval and military arrangements.
In short it would be unwise to increase the privileges which they at present enjoy. 4. The fourth proposal is unobjectionable, as it merely sets forth an existing state of
affairs.