C. O.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Govern4966
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[35887]
No. 1.
715
[September 27.]
SECTION 2.
IRE
(R£! 25 OCT 09
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received September 27.)
(No. 319.) Sir,
Peking, September 7, 1909. I HAVE the honour to report to you the following instance of somewhat high- handed action on the part of the Russian police at Harbin towards a British firm recently established there :--
On the 12th August a telegram was received through the American Legation from the American vice-consul at Harbin, Mr. Paddock, to the effect that the Russian police had, at the request of an Austrian subject and without any legal proceedings, taken possession of and sealed the storehouse of the British firm of Craig and Co.
In my absence from Peking, Mr. Max Müller telegraphed to the acting British consul-general at Mukden for further information, and, after visiting the Russian Legation, addressed the letter of which I have the honour to enclose a copy to the Russian Minister, who was also absent from Peking. I beg to transmit copies of two despatches from Mr. Willis which will put you in possession of the facts of the case as far as they were known to him, and will explain the action which he had taken; also a copy of the letter which Mr. Max Müller received from the Russian Legation in reply to his protest.
I cannot say that the explanations contained in this letter can be considered quite satisfactory, but in view of Mr. Max Müller's formal protest and of the opinion expressed by Mr. Willis in his second despatch, I have thought it better to allow the matter to drop.
The American vice-consul at Harbin appears from a despatch which he addressed to the State Department on the subject to have taken a far more serious view of the incident than Mr. Willis. He reports that Craig's agent, Klementasky-who claims to be a British subject, though not registered at the consulate-general at Mukden-- wrote a letter to all the consular representatives at Harbin; and Mr. Paddock went so far as to ask the Japanese consul-general, in his capacity of doyen of the consular corps, to call a meeting of his colleagues to consider the question of taking official notice of the matter, but the Japanese consul-general thought that it would be best to await the result of the representations made by the British authorities.
I do not, however, attach so much importance to Mr. Paddock's report as I should have had Í not known that gentleman personally in Corea. He was excitable and not very dependable, and he is, I am told, an anti-Russian at Harbin as he was anti-Japanese in Corea, and would no doubt like to urge us forward to take the initiative in the vexed question of the Russian administrative rights in Harbin.
I have the honour to enclose a copy of yet a further despatch from the acting British consul-general at Mukden dealing with a question arising out of this incident, namely, whether it would not be advisable in the event of British firms establishing themselves in railway territory to inform the Russian consulate-general. I have replied to Mr. Willis that, provided it is understood that our action is purely for convenience' sake, and does not imply any recognition on our part of the Russian view of their own rights, there would be no objection to his making such a notification to the Russian consul-general at Harbin,
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
M. le Ministre,
Inclosure I in No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Russian Minister.
[Undated.]
I HAVE received indirect information that the Russian police at Harbin have, at the request of an Austrian subject and without any legal proceedings, taken possession of and sealed the storehouse of the British firm of Craig and Co, in that town.
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