CO129-417 - Public Offices - 1914 — Page 310

304

In the course of the discussion which took

place I insisted that the questions raised were,

from the point of view of international law and

extraterritorial usage, of such delicacy that,

were one to attempt to take action in the sense

desired, the conceivable post ballum complica-

tions which would arise in every foreign conces-

sion throughout China would be of a most serious

nature. That it would not be physically possible

for me to expel the German Consul nor restrict

the freedom of movement of his nationals and that

even could I do so, it would not be possible to

prevent their moving into the city or across the

river. That to establish a censorship at the

telegraph office on 3hamien would be futile, 80

long as telegrams could be despatched from the

Central Office on the Chinese bund and that it

must be manifest that no control could be exer-

cised over the despatch of German closed mail-

bags or other correspondence handed to the Chi-

nese