CO882-6 — Page 152

33051.

SIR,

80

No. 59.

SIR F. SWETTENHAM to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received October 11, 1900.)

34, Dover Street, W., October 9, 1900. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge your confidential letter of this day's date* concerning Wei-Hai-Wei.

2. I agree that the British dollar should be legalised in Wei-Hai-Wei as soon as possible. As I said in my report, I think small silver and copper coins should also be inade legal tender at Wei-Hai-Wei, and the Hong Kong currency might be the best for this purpose, though the profits should, in my opinion, belong wholly to Wei-Hai- Wei. When the Government is prepared to give Wei-Hai-Wei a proper supply of silver and copper coin, and possibly also of Government notes, it would be well to declare that this currency only is legal tender.

I believe the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank has an agency at Wei-Hai-Wei, and as this Corporation advocates the introduction of the British trade dollar, I have no doubt the Bank might be utilized for that purpose, and I daresay an arrangement might be made whereby the Bank would exchange British trade dollars for Mexicans on fair terms, until all the Mexican dollars now in the territory had been weeded out. The exchange of Chinese dollars and small silver coins will be more difficult to deal with.

I have, &c.,

24400.

No. 60.

FRANK SWETTENHAM.

81

Kowloon City, and that in the latter case, as in the former border disturbances, sup- posed to have been fomented by the Chinese authorities, gave substantial reason for modifying this troublesome provision.

Mr. Chamberlain would therefore be glad if Lord Salisbury would think fit to de- mand that the walled town of Wei-Hai-Wei should for all purposes be included in the leased territory, thereby greatly facilitating the work of administration.

5. In the previous paragraph of the report (par. 39) Sir F. Swettenham points to the necessity for rectifying the boundary line which, as provisionally delimited, passes through three villages and I am to ask that Lord Salisbury may be good enough when His Lordship considers that a suitable time has come for doing so, to invite the Chinese Government to consent to the slight rectification of frontier which may be required.

In a letter addressed to Lord Salisbury on the 13th of August last by Mr. F. J. M. Rhodes, a copy of which has been sent to this office from the War Office the writer who is concerned with the mining possibilities of the territory, considers that, in order to obtain a natural boundary it would be necessary to include in the lease the whole of the promontory to the east of longitude 121° 40', within which line, by the terms of the convention certain rights have been conceded to the British Government, and the same question is raised in the 41st paragraph of Sir F. Swettenham's report, but, though such an extension would in Sir F. Swettenham's opinion enable a revenue to be raised which would cover the cost of administration, Mr. Chamberlain presumes that Lord Salisbury would hardly think fit to propose this extension of leased territory to the Chinese Government in view of the provision in the convention that within the zone in question "Chinese administration will not be interfered with."

In any case, however, it would be of advantage that the frontier should be as soon as possible clearly drawn, with the consent of both parties in such a way as to preclude the likelihood of further disputes.

6. As regards the future administration of the dependency, and more especially as to whether, in the view of Sir F. Swettenham's report, the Governor (or Commissioner) should or should not be a naval or military officer, Mr. Chamberlain is in communica- tion with Lord Lansdowne. For the present he trusts that Mr. Barton's services may be continued at Wei-Hai-Wei.

I am,

&c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

......immim TLC.O. 882

6

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

(Confidential.)

SIR,

COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.

[Answered by No. 65.]

Downing Street, October 9, 1900. WITH reference to previous correspondence on the subject of Wei-Hai-Wei, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to request you to lay before the Marquess of Salisbury the enclosed copy of a report by Sir Frank Swettenham on the future ad- ministration of this dependency.

2. Mr. Chamberlain is consulting the Marquess of Lansdowne as to the date from which the Colonial Office should become responsible for the control of Wei-Hai-Wei, and has suggested the 1st of January next as a suitable date, but in the meantime he would be glad to know Lord Salisbury's views and wishes in regard to the various matters dealt with, or touched upon, in this report.

3. From the correspondence enclosed in your confidential letter of the 26th of March last, it is understood that His Lordship desires that the leased territory should not be treated as the leased territory at Kowloon has been treated, viz., as part of the British dominions, but that the precedent of Cyprus should be followed, and on these lines an Order in Council was drafted by Mr. Gray, the draft being enclosed in your letter of the 13th of December last,§ Mr. Chamberlain assumes, though he would be glad to be assured on the point, that recent events in China have not modified His Lordship's views in respect to this particular question, as it would, for administrative purposes, be much simpler if Wei-Hai-Wei, like Kowloon, could be treated as a British possession.

45

4. I am to ask that His Lordship's attention may be called to the 40th paragraph of Sir F. Swettenham's report, in which he suggests a modification of the clause in the convention by which within the walled city of Wei-Hai-Wei Chinese officials shall continue to exercise jurisdiction, except so far as may be inconsistent with naval and military requirements for the defence of the territory leased." Sir F. Swettenham, it will be seen considers the position to be impossible, and urges that the walled town should be subject to the same government as the country which surrounds it on all sides." It will be remembered that the same difficulty made itself felt in the case of

↑ No. 52.

‡ No. 28.

34757 not printed.

⚫ 24400 not printed.

24400.

SIR,

No. 61.

COLONIAL OFFICE to WAR OFFICE. [Answered by No. 76.]

Downing Street, October 9, 1900. WITH reference to the correspondence which has passed in respect to Wei-hai- Wei, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to request you to lay before the Marquess of Lansdowne the enclosed copy of a report on that dependency, by Sir F. Swettenham, embodying various proposals with regard to its future administration.

2. The first point to consider is at what date, in view of the present troubles in China the control of Wei-Hai-Wei could, consistently with the public interest, be trans- ferred to this Office, and I am to suggest for Lord Lansdowne's consideration whether the first of January next might provisionally be fixed as the date from which all the correspondence with the Commissioner or Governor in his civil capacity should be conducted with the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

3. If any date can be at present definitely fixed the next point to determine is in what hands the local administration should be placed, and whether the whole depen- dency should be treated as one or whether the island of Liu Kung Tau, being the pro- perty of the War Office and Admiralty, should be dealt with wholly apart from the mainland territory.

4. It will be remembered that is the letter from this Department of the 28th of^~ March last it was presumed that Colonel Dorward would remain as Governor or administrator of the leased territory under the Colonial Office, and Mr. Chamberlain had contemplated some such form of administration as that of Gibraltar.

5858

• See 29454: not printed.

↑ No. 52.

‡ No. 29.

L