CO129-482 - Public Offices - 1923 — Page 359

recognised by us as the government of China and to the opposition with which it may meet in certain

quarters. But the Peking Government deserves little sympathy at a time when it is consistently opposing the demands of the powers; the present

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distribution of revenues is clearly inequitable;

and we are very seriously impressed with the dangers which threaten the customs service; if the whole surplus after foreign obligations are met is used to satisfy Peking financial interests and the rest of China continues to derive no practical benefit from the customs collections. The longer we maintain a purely negative attitude towards provin- cial claims, the greater these dangers will become.

If after careful consideration the diplomatic body reject these proposals as impracticable or dangerous, can any more feasible alternative be

suggested ?

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