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Inclosure
44.
419
residence. adopted from one of the ex-German Foundling Homes into a very respectable Chinese house on the recommendation ("after careful enquiry") of the Very Rev. Archdeacon Barnett, whose letter of recommendation I attach. She had been refused permission to go out one evening with her adoptive parents
Investigation shewed that the child had been
and had expressed her displeasure at the decision in the manner customary among children of tender years both in the East and West by screaming for two hours. It seemed to me, therefore, that there was an appreciable risk of this woman's taking some overt action, on equally erroneous grounds, that would bring her into the Police Court and thus cause a grave scandal to the European community.
8.
In these circumstances, I had decided to ask Your Lordship to request the Admiralty to transfer Lieutenant-Commander Haglewood to some other station, where his actions and those of his wife would not be likely to cause friction, but on further consideration it occurred to me that to do so might damage his professional prospects and I thought it best to put the matter privately before the Commodore in charge. I have no copy of my letter and as Commodore Gurner and his Secretary have both left Hongkong I am unable to refresh my memory, but to the best of my recollection it called attention to the letters written by Mrs. Haslewood and to her husband's encouragement of her, enquired whether such conduct was in accordance with Admiralty regulations and ended with a suggestion that the Commodore should endeavour to prevent an officer holding His Majesty's Commission from countenancing offensive attacks on the Chinese community. I received a reply from the Commodore to the effect that he had spoken to Lieutenant-Commander Haslewood, who declined to desist from his crusade and that as he was determined to continue to make himself a muisance
he
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