CO129-437 - Public Offices - 1916 — Page 212

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Amabassador at Washington had been informed that a man named boehm, travelling with an Italian passport and purporting to be employed at the Italian Consulate at Singapore, proposed interference with allied shipping in the Far East. The Police at longkong had reported that he was at Canton, and His Ex- cellency desired me to reply by telegram id he was present and to give also the time of his departure. On the same day I telegraphed to Hongkong that Boehm was leaving that day by the 4.20 train for iongkong, I received no information from

Hongkong that Boehm had been arrested and released as stated

in Mr. Volpicelli's letter.

Subject to your instructions, I propose to return no

reply to Mr. Volpicelli's letter, but I would observe that the charge brought by him of a system of low-class espionage on Italian subjects on Shameen 18 untrue. He himself, it is acmitted, has been watched on various occasions, but only while he was actually in the British Concession, and in 60

circumspect a manner that it is doubtful if he would have

entertained any suspicions thereof had he not obtained his

clue at Hongkong in August last. There are but three or four

Italians resident on Shameen and Mr. Volpicelli is the only Italian at Canton whose movements are at all suspicious.

I have the honour to submit that I am justified in ob- serving the movements of any person visiting the British

Concession who is reasonably open to suspicion. Mr. Volpi- celli has not only refused the request made to him on Sep- tember 6th last by the Governor of Hongkong that he should refrain from visiting or holding com.unication with the Ger-

man Consul at Canton but has endeavoured to extricate him-

self