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During our interview on April 2 the Governor of Hong Kong first said that the Customs must be removed. I strongly insisted that they could on no account be removed. When the Governor was leaving I asked if the delimitation was to be re- garded as settled. His Excellency replied that it was. I again said that it was not necessary to again refer to the question of the removal of the Customs. The Governor replied that it was not necessary to again refer to it. I regarded this as conclusive. The words are still in my ears, and I did not misunderstand.

I am again sending Taot-ai Wang Ts'un Shan to Hong Kong to personally confer and take action, and I shall feel obliged if you will inform His Excellency the Governor

of this.

(No. 26.) SIR,

I have, &c.,

(Seal of Viceroy.)

Colonial Secretary's Office, Hong Kong, April 19, 1899.

I AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, en- closing translation of a despatch from the Viceroy regarding the removal of the Chinese Customs from the leased territory, and I am to request you to convey to His Excellency an expression of the Governor's great regret that he should have interpreted His Excellency's observation before leaving the Yamen (of which the Viceroy's recollec- tion is quite accurate) as an intimation that the Governor had changed the views so strongly expressed by him on the subject. The question of the removal of the Customs was not one that could be decided between the Viceroy and the Governor. It was clear that the views of their respective Excellencies as to the effect of the Convention were diametrically opposed, and the Viceroy had intimated his interpretation as decidedly on his part as the Governor had on his. It was therefore not necessary again to refer to the subject, which could only be settled, as it has been settled, by the Imperial Governments at London and Peking.

The Viceroy will doubtless understand that His Excellency the Governor's action in the matter is purely ministerial, as it is His Excellency's duty to carry out the Con- vention as it stands.

I have, &c.,

J. G. T. BUCKLE,

Per Colonial Secretary.

Her Britannic Majesty's Consul,

Canton.

205

I then informed His Excellency that the Governor had sent ample reinforcements. The Viceroy accepted the statement without much comment.

I then stated that His Excellency the Governor would certainly hoist the British flag on Monday, the 17th instant, to which His Excellency replied that the Governor could do as he liked, and that it was a matter of indifference to him.

When I came to the point that the Customs and all other officials, civil and mili- tary, and all soldiers must be removed at once, the Viceroy flatly refused to remove the officials, and added that, as the soldiers would naturally retire when the territory was taken over, he would not send any orders, telegraphic or otherwise.

The above is a brief summary of the main features of the interview, during the course of which the Viceroy's demeanour was not altogether characterised by that suavity and politeness upon which Chinese officials pride themselves in their inter- course with each other; but the questions at issue were too important to permit of any time being wasted over details of etiquette. The Viceroy had already heard from Mr. Wang that there had been what he styled a "fight." But in spite of this he at first attempted to throw a doubt upon the accuracy of the information conveyed in His Excellency the Governor's telegram, and said at least twice that he did not believe it. This attitude he subsequently abandoned. He also used the expression," If you want a fight, let it be a fight," to which I replied that the aggression had come from the Chinese side, and not from ours.

In conclusion I would observe that it would seem to be hopeless to expect any action to be taken by the Viceroy, who has evidently settled down into a state of obstinate inactivity.

SIR,

I have, &c.,

G. D. PITZIPIOS,

Vice-Consul.

Enclosure 19 in No. 172.

British Consulate, Canton, April 17, 1899.

I HAVE the honour to enclose a translation of a note just received from the Viceroy, in reply to mine of yesterday, embodying the last telegram received from His Excellency the Governor, requesting the removal of the Chinese officials and soldiers from the new territory.

As I telegraphed this morning, the Viceroy at first refused to send any reply to my

note.

Enclosure 18 in No. 172,

I have, &c.,

G. D. PITZIPIOS,

Vice-Consul

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

mmimimiliu

TRITIC.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

SIR,

British Consulate, Canton, April 16, 1899.

In extension of my telegram just despatched to His Excellency the Governor, I have the honour to state that I have just returned from an hour's interview with the Viceroy and other officials, at which Mr. Assistant Higgs was also present.

The Viceroy wandered constantly from the points at issue, and introduced a great deal of irrelevant matter into the conversation, so I merely let him have his say, and confined my own remarks to the subjects contained in His Excellency's telegram of this morning.

As regards the question whether the troops who fired were regulars or not, His Excellency was at first inclined to take up the attitude of "let the Governor of Hong Kong find out for himself," but when I pinned him down to the second clause of the telegram, namely, that such action was an act of war, he denied that these were regu lar forces, and hinted that they were the remains of Chung Sui Yang's party. He showed me a telegram from Mr. Hillier to the effect that, after the 17th instant, there would be no means of preventing smuggling in the new territory, and said that in consequence of this telegram he had sent 300 men to Kowloon Kuan. (I would observe that this number, added to the number already sent on His Excellency's re- quest, makes a total of 900 men.) His Excellency denied the existence of any field artillery belonging to the local forces. I cannot judge as to the truth or falsity of this statement.

The Honourable

The Colonial Secretary,

Hong Kong.

From Viceroy T'AN.

(Note.) (Translation.)

April 17, 1899.

SIR,

I HAVE received your note informing me that you had received a telegram from the Governor of Hong Kong, requesting me, after the flag had been hoisted, to remove every Chinese official and soldier from the new territory.

It is set forth in the Convention made with the Tsungli Yamen that "the Chinese officials stationed in Kowloon City shall continue to perform their duties as heretofore"; therefore there can be no question of removing them. As regards the soldiers, the Governor himself requested that they should be sent to keep order, so I sent 300 men of the Chien Battalion to take up their quarters at Kowloon, and 300 men of the Fang Yen Battalion to Shen Chou, to be at hand to preserve order. At the present time the Fang Yen detachment are still at Shen Chou, while the Chien detachment have been