CONFIDENTIA L.
Hongkong.
0.0.
13442
248
Free 22 PM 07
;
Sir,
4573
А
Goverment House,
Hongkong, 24th. March, 1905.
I have the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your Confidential Despatch of the 17th. ultimo, trans-
mitting extracts from the Intelligence Report furnished by His
Majesty's Acting Consul at Wuchow to His Majesty's Minister
at Peking for the period from 12th. August to 31st. of October
last, in which reference is made to alleged illicit traffic
in arms and ammunition between Hongkong and the mainland of
China whereby, it is said by the Wuchow Officials, the rebels
in Kwangsi are largely supplied with munitions of war.
2.
Though it cannot be denied that it is
possible to smuggle arms and ammunition into and out of a free
Port like Hongkong which has no regular preventive service,
it is nevertheless doubtful whether in the face of the strin-
gent laws enacted to prevent such smuggling it is really car-
ried on to a large extent from this Colony.
3.
Under section 17 of Ordinance No. 2 of
1900 the Master of every Ship other than a vessel of war
having on board as cargo any arms or ammunition is bound on
arrival at this Port to declare and furnish a manifest of such
cargo, while other provisions of the Ordinance strictly regulate
the
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
ALFRED LYTTELTON, K.C., M.P.,
80.1
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