CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921 — Page 71

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wishes of that Government and under the instructions of His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreim affairs. Up to the date of Sir H. kay's departure from Hongkong, in the latter part of 1918, the Colonial Covern- ment continued to show a keen desire for the conclusion of the agrement, and the first intimation received by this Legation of a change of policy was ontained in a telegram from Kr, Severn, the Officer administering the Hongkong Government, dated December, 20th, 1918, proposing that the signsture of the agrammt be postponed but without giving any reason for this request. No definite statement with regard to the changed attitude of the Hongkong Covernment was communicated to the Legation until the receipt of kr. Severn's despatch of April 28th, 1919, by which date Notes had already been exchange by this Legation and the Vai Chiao Pu formally accepting the draft agreement as finally amended and arranging that it should be signed by the Inspector General and His kajesty's Minister on behalf of

the Governments concerned.

The grounds on which the Hongkong Covernment havO based their sudden decision to withdraw from the negotia- tions are set forth in Tr. Severn's despatch of April 28th, 1919, of which a copy was enclosed in Sir John Jordan's No.276 of June 16th,1919, and in Sir R. Stubbs' despatch of February 20th, 192u to the Colonial Office to which reference is made in Your Lordship's despatch under acknow- ledgment. In an informal note dated February 21st 1921 Sir R. Stubbs has stated his views with still greater emphasis, laying special stress on the argument that one result of the proposed agreement would be to inorenas the price of

Salt to the poorer classes in longkong.

Without attempting to criticise in detail the

rensons