4
I request that his Excellency may also be informed that revised Regulations in connection with the registration of British launches at Canton are now under consideration,
Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed)
A. W. MOORE, Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Admiral Sir A. Moore to Governor Sir F. Lugard.
"King Alfred," at Hong Kong, December 22, 1907.
WITH reference to the question of the suppression of piracy in the West River and Canton Delta, your Excellency is aware that, in consequence of the refusal of the Viceroy of Canton to entertain the "Sainam" claim and to adopt satisfactory measures to protect foreign traders, the British patrol of the waterways has been augmented.
The increased patrol has now been an established fact for three weeks, and although the Viceroy has expostulated, and a great outcry was made in the local press, no definite result has been arrived at and from reports received I gather that the outcry is diminishing and that the populace show no hostile feeling to us—in fact, rather the reverse; there is a danger, consequently, that the authorities at Canton, realizing that the clamour is confined to agitators and not to the people generally, and that our action is not altogether so unpopular, may be inclined to accept the situation and to do nothing either to satisfy our claim or to take effective steps themselves to police the waterways.
I think, therefore, that the time has arrived to take some further action to bring home to the Viceroy that it is by no means our intention to abate our claim for compensation in the "Sainam" case, or to allow the present insecure state of trade in the waterways to continue, and I propose to telegraph to the Admiralty to that effect.
The question will then arise as to what action, short of forcible measures, can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy.
In this connection His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton has expressed his opinion that if the friendly legislation which the Colony of Hong Kong has hitherto adopted in the interests of China, viz.:
The Arms Ordinance; and
The expulsion of Chinese revolutionary agents;
was withheld, it would have a marked effect.
I should be glad if your Excellency will kindly give this matter your consideration, for I think it very likely that if the Viceroy was reminded of the legislative assistance extended by Hong Kong towards China, and warned that the Colony is directly interested in the security of trade in the Canton Delta waterways, and that the "Sainam" was a Hong Kong registered vessel, it might help towards a settlement.
I will defer dispatching the telegram to the Admiralty to which I have previously referred until I have ascertained your Excellency's views on this matter.
(Confidential.) Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed) A. W. MOORE,
Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
Inclosure 6 in No. 1.
Governor Sir F. Lugard to Admiral Sir A. Moore.
Government House, Hong Kong, December 24, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's despatch of yesterday's date, in reference to the question as to what action, short of forcible measures, can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy in respect to the piracy and "Sainam" compensation difficulties. Your Excellency recalls the suggestion made by Mr. Mansfield that, if the friendly legislation which the Hong Kong Government has hitherto adopted were withheld, and the Viceroy were warned that the Colony is directly interested in the security of trade in the Canton Delta waterways, and that the "Sainam" was a Hong Kong registered vessel, it might help towards a settlement.
2. This proposal has already been communicated to the Foreign Office by His Majesty's Minister at Peking, on the 27th July. On the 16th August a reply was received from His Majesty's Government that the proposal could not be approved. Sometime in August Mr. Mansfield called upon me, and in the course of conversation I learnt of these proposals, upon which he asked my views. I replied that the negotiations on these matters had hitherto been conducted by His Majesty's Minister and the Commander-in-Chief without reference to this Government, and that if the action taken by the fleet proved ineffective it would appear to me that a certain "loss of face" (upon which the Chinese set much value) would be involved, viz., by abandoning as a failure the line of argument that if China would not recognize her obligations Great Britain would herself take effective action, and substituting for it, when it had proved ineffective, a course of action such as that now proposed. I added that it would not be altogether easy to give effect to such a threat as that proposed, if the mere threat itself did not prove any more effective than the policy hitherto followed, for the friendly legislation and actions of Hong Kong alluded to are such as can scarcely be withheld by a civilized Power holding under lease a portion of Chinese territory, and are, moreover, in some cases reciprocally advantageous to the Colony. The matters referred to are as follows:-
(a.) Prohibition of arms into China, except by permit, which is not issued without the cognizance of the Imperial Maritime Customs of China. His Excellency Tong Ta-jên, one of the ablest of Chinese officials, contended in November 1906 that piracy was due to the illicit import of arms from Hong Kong. The revocation of this Ordinance or the promiscuous grant of permits would undoubtedly encourage piracy, which it is our object to suppress, and it would be difficult to resist the imputation that it was a vindictive act, against our own interests, and tending to bloodshed in China, without in any way promoting the suppression of piracy.
(b.) This Government has refused hospitality to prominent agitators and revolutionaries. This matter has also nothing to do with piracy. A reversal of our policy, however, would not, as in the former case, directly encourage piracy, but it would be a serious incentive to rebellion and bloodshed, not confined to the Kwang Provinces, but also extending to the Central Government, which, to the extent of its power, has endeavoured to meet our demands. It would, moreover, in point of fact, probably be some time before any direct result from such action could be noticeable. This Government could not openly invite revolutionaries to Hong Kong, and a case of such a person arriving in the Colony and his expulsion being requested by the Chinese Government (and refused) might not occur for a long time.
(c.) On the 11th October last, without any prior request from the Chinese Government, an Ordinance was passed prohibiting the printing, publication, sale, or distribution in the Colony of any printed or written matter calculated to excite tumult, disorder, or crime in China. The repeal of this Ordinance, which has only been a few months in operation, would hardly exert any great pressure on the Viceroy; in other respects it is in the same category as the last point considered at (b).
(d.) Refusal of extradition. This would undoubtedly be viewed with consternation by the Viceroy, and though it is a reciprocal benefit, its abrogation would, without doubt, be more damaging to China than to ourselves. Mutual extradition is, however, provided for by Article XXI of the Tien-tsin Treaty, and the local Ordinance No. 7 of 1899 is mainly explanatory, and prescribed limitations to the extent to which this Government will consent to give effect to the clause of the Treaty. It is not in the power of the Colonial Government to abrogate the Treaty, and the repeal of the local Ordinance would be a benefit rather than a cause of alarm to the Viceroy.
3. I fully appreciate the importance to the trade of this Colony of the suppression of piracy in the West River and delta, and I as fully recognize the obligation of this Government to use its utmost efforts to co-operate with His Majesty's Government in outrage. I am, however, somewhat adverse to the employment of a threat which it would be (as I have shown) extremely difficult to carry out, and which in any case would result in creating considerable ill-will towards this Colony on the part of the Viceroy and his colleagues, with whom I shall presently have to negotiate several important matters, such as a joint working Railway Agreement, and the restriction of the issue of subsidiary coins, &c.—matters of extreme importance to this Government. His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs suggested that, in the matter now under discussion, the friendly
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I request that his Excelleney may also be informed that revised Regulations in connection with the registration of British launches at Canton are now under con- sideration,
Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed)
A. W. MOORE, Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Admiral Sir A. Moore to Governor Sir F. Lugard.
"King Alfred," at Hong Kong, December 22, 1907. WITH reference to the question of the suppression of piracy in the West River and Canton Delta, your Excellency is aware that, in consequence of the refusal of the Viceroy of Canton to entertain the "Sainam" claim and to adopt satisfactory measures to protect foreign traders, the British patrol of the waterways has been augmented.
The increased patrol has now been an established fact for three weeks, and although the Viceroy has expostulated, and a great outery was made in the local press, no definite result has been arrived at and from reports received gather that the outery is diminishing and that the populace show no hostile feeling to us-in fact, rather the reverse; there is a danger, consequently, that the authorities at Canton, realizing that the clamour is confined to agitators and not to the people generally, and that our action is not altogether so unpopular, may be inclined to accept the situation and to do.. nothing either to satisfy our claim or to take effective steps themselves to police the waterways.
I think, therefore, that the time has arrived to take some further action to bring home to the Viceroy that it is by no means our intention to abate our claim for com- pensation in the "Sainam" case, or to allow the present insecure state of trade in the waterways to continue, and I propose to telegraph to the Admiralty to that effect.
The question will then arise as to what action, short of forcible measures, can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy.
In this connection His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton has expressed his opinion that if the friendly legislation which the Colony of Hong Kong has liitherto adopted in the interests of China, viz. :---
The Arms Ordinance; and
The expulsion of Chinese revolutionary agents;
was withheld, it would have a marked effect.
I should be glad if your Excellency will kindly give this matter your consideration, for I think it very likely that if the Viceroy was reminded of the legislative assistance extended by Hong Kong towards China, and warned that the Colony is directly interested in the security of trade in the Canton Delta waterways, and that the "Sainam" was a Hong Kong registered vessel, it might help towards a settlement.
I will defer dispatching the telegram to the Admiralty to which I have previously referred until I have ascertained your Excellency's views on this matter.
(Confidential.) Sir,
I have, &c.
(Signed) A. W. MOORE,
Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
Inclosure 6 in No. 1.
Governor Sir F. Lugard to Admiral Sir A. Moore.
Government House, Hong Kong, December 24, 1907. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's despatch of yesterday's date, in reference to the question as to what action, short of forcible measures, can be taken to put further pressure on the Viceroy in respect to the piracy and Sainam" compensation difficulties. Your Excellency recalls the suggestion made
by Mr. Mansfield that, if the friendly legislation which the Hong Kong Government has hitherto adopted were withheld, and the Viceroy were warned that the Colony is
>
5
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directly interested in the security of trade in the Canton Delta waterways, and that the "Sainam was a Hong Kong registered vessel, it might help towards a settlement. 2. This proposal has already been communicated to the Foreign Office by His Majesty's Minister at Peking, on the 27th July. On the 16th August a reply was received from His Majesty's Government that the proposal could not be approved. Sometime in August Mr. Mansfield called upon me, and in the course of conversation I learnt of these proposals, upon which he asked my views. I replied that the negotia- tions on these matters had hitherto been conducted by His Majesty's Minister and the Commander-in-chief without reference to this Government, and that if the action taken by the fleet proved ineffective it would appear to me that a certain "loss of face" (upou which the Chinese set much value) would be involved, viz., by abandoning as a failure the line of argument that if China would not recognize her obligations Great Britain would herself take effective action, and substituting for it, when it had proved ineffective, a course of action such as that now proposed. I added that it would not be altogether easy to give effect to such a threat as that proposed, if the mere threat itself did not prove any more effective than the policy hitherto followed, for the friendly legislation and actions of Hong Kong alluded to are such as can scarcely be withheld by a civilized Power holding under lease a portion of Chinese territory, and are, moreover, in some cases reciprocally advantageous to the Colony. The matters referred to are as follows:-
(a.) Prohibition of arms into China, except by permit, which is not issued without the cognizance of the Imperial Maritime Customs of China. His Excellency Tong Ta-jên, one of the ablest of Chinese officials, contended in November 1906 that piracy was due to the illicit import of arms from Hong Kong. The revocation of this Ordinance or the promiscuous grant of permits would undoubtedly encourage piracy, which it is our object to suppress, and it would be difficult to resist the imputation that it was a vindictive act, against our own interests, and tending to bloodshed in China, without in any way promoting the suppression of piracy.
(b.) This Government has refused hospitality to prominent agitators and revolu- tionaries. This matter has also nothing to do with piracy. A reversal of our policy, however, would not, as in the former case, directly encourage piracy, but it would be a serious incentive to rebellion and bloodshed, not confined to the Kwang Provinces, but also extending to the Central Government, which, to the extent of its power, has endeavoured to meet our demands. It would, moreover, in point of fact, probably be some time before any direct result from such action could be noticeable. This Govern- ment could not openly invite revolutionaries to Hong Kong, and a case of such a person arriving in the Colony and his expulsion being requested by the Chinese Government (and refused) might not occur for a long time.
(c.) On the 11th October last, without any prior request from the Chinese Government, au Ordinance was passed prohibiting the printing, publication, sale, or distribution in the Colony of any printed or written matter calculated to excite tumult, disorder, or crime in China. The repeal of this Ordinance, which has only been a few months in operation, would hardly exert any great pressure on the Viceroy; in other respects it is in the same category as the last point considered at (b).
(d.) Refusal of extradition. This would undoubtedly be viewed with consternation by the Viceroy, and though it is a reciprocal benefit, its abrogation would, without doubt, be more damaging to China than to ourselves. Mutual extradition is, however, provided for by Article XXI of the Tien-tsin Treaty, and the local Ordinance No. 7 of 1899 is mainly explanatory, and prescribed limitations to the extent to which this Government will consent to give effect to the clause of the Treaty. It is not in the power of the Colonial Government to abrogate the Treaty, and the repeal of the local Ordinance would be a benefit rather than a cause of alarm to the Viceroy.
3. I fully appreciate the importance to the trade of this Colony of the suppression of piracy in the West River and delta, and I as fully recognize the obligation of this Government to use its utmost efforts to co-operate with His Majesty's Government in outrage. I am, exacting compensation (with this object in view) for the "Sainam however, somewhat adverse to the employment of a threat which it would be (as I bave shown) extremely difficult to carry out, and which in any case would result in creating considerable ill-will towards this Colony on the part of the Viceroy and his colleagues, with whom I shall presently have to negotiate several important matters, such as a joint working Railway Agreement, and the restriction of the issue of subsidiary coins, &c.---- matters of extreme importance to this Government. His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs suggested that, in the matter now under discussion, the friendly
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