CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 73

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as much interested to see preserved as he was.

There

was no understanding with the Macao Government on

the subject and therefore it was to be hoped that the

Hongkong Government would restrict as far as possible

the sale of arms to the Portuguese Colony. I remark-

ed that, in my opinion, that was rather a different

question, for on what grounds should arms be refused

to a Portuguese at Macao who wished to purchase them

for export, say, to some third country? Why should

the Hongkong Government possibly offend the Portu-

guese to please China? His Excellency would not fol-

low up the argument but only smilingly persisted in

hoping that the Hongkong Government would place all

possible restrictions on the trade.

As I had but lit-

tle knowledge in regard to the question and had not been

requested to discuss it, I considered it a good op-

portunity for turning the conversation to the present

restrictions on the export of cattle to Hongkong, which,

I said, had sent up the price of beef in the Colony.

I added that the Governor was looking forward to the

4th of May when the Viceroy had promised that the re-

strictions

restrictions in question would be removed. His Ex-

but

cellency said that the promise would be kept,

did not pursue the question further. The Kowloon-

Canton Railway was next mentioned. I informed the

Viceroy how matters stood at present, that negotia-

tions between the British and Chinese Corporation

and the Government at Peking in regard to the final

agreement had probably already begun and that the

Colony was quite ready to begin their section.

expressed himself in favour of railways generally

Tsen

and alluded to the great convenience he had himself

lately experienced from the Samshui-Canton line. I

said I hoped that he would support the present scheme

for were he to do so it would go far to bring the

negotiations to a successful issue. He replied that

he could not express any opinion until he had seen

the Agreement. This, I told him, I believed to be

almost identical with the Shanghai-Nanking Railway

Agreement. The Viceroy was, however, anxious to

know if the proposed concession was a bona-fide

British concern, in regard to which he was given

satisfactory