CO129-314 - Public Offices - 1902 — Page 151

+

150

See China Asso- ciation, pp.295, sqq.C-9131.

H.Kong,9580/98

seq.

12015/98 sec.

authorities at Peking for a joint decision.

The Commissioners added that "if these

arrangements are fully carried out, a fairly satis-

factory solution of the questions connected with the

so-called "Hong Kong Blockade" will have been arrived

at."

The result of these arrangements was that the

"Kowloon" Imperial Maritime Customs Commissioner set

up an unrecognised office in Hong Kong, and no diffi -

culty seems to have arisen in consequence of his pre-

sence there.

At an early stage of the negotiations between

Sir C-Macdonald end the Tsung-11-Yamen for the exten-

sion of the boundaries of Hong Kong, the Yamen made

it a condition that the Hong Kong Government should carry out more energetically than before existing arrangements for prevention of smuggling. This was suggested by Sir R.Hart; the argument being that with

the island of Lautao included in the lease smuggling

would be much facilitated, and the Chinese revenue

could only be protected by the help of the Colonial

Government.

We raised no objection to this condition, though we rather demurred to the implication that the

Colonial Government had hitherto been slack in re-

pressing smuggling. Sir 0.Macdonald subsequently ex- pressed a strong opinion that before the Convention was signed the Colonial Government should pledge them- selves to take adequate measures for policing the new- ly-leased waters and preventing smuggling.

We agreed to telling the Chinese Government that as soon as the leased territory was handed over

the