CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5] — Page 39

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Department who know Fr. Johnston and what he has done,

and it was on the strength of these strong recomenda-

tions and the claim that he has on the Colonial Service

that Mr. Amery decided to offer him the Colonial

Secretaryship of Hong Kong.

3

Yesterday I received from Stubbs, the late

Governor of Hong Kong, a letter in which he writes as

follows:

"Grindle has probably told you that I saw him yesterday and gave him some reasons for thinking that the appointment of "." Johnston to be Colonial

Secretary of Hong Kong would be disastrous. I have been thinking it over since and T have realized that there was a very important aspect of the matter that

I overlooked.

I pointed out to Grindle that

Johnston's connection with the ex-Emperor would mean

that his presence in Hong Kong would make any

rapprochement with Canton impossible. The one thing on which all Cantonese agree is their hatred of the "anchus and all their works and at a time whan there is some slight hope that the moderates, who are ready to be at peace with Hong Kong, may

carry

carry the day, it would be most unfortunate if

the possibility were wrecked. Tt is always alleged that Johnston is in sympathy with the Royalist party who still talk occasionally about Restoration. I don't know whether this is true

but it doesn't matter whether it is or not. It

will be said and believed and of course the anti- English party will make a great cry about it and say that Grent Britain is aiming at a Pestoration, so that even if the Moderates didn't believe this

to be the case they would not dare to betray any

pro-English sentiments.

"I had however overlooked the further

fact that Johnston is well-known, or at least

universally believed, to have made no secret of

his opinion that the Peking Goverment has treated the ex-Emperor very badly (as of course they have) and, rightly or wrongly, he has the credit of being response for the ex-Emperor's escape and appeal

to the Japanese.

If,therefore, he were to be

appointed to long Kong the Peking people would also

be infuriated and their relations with Great

Britain, to which the Foreign Office attach such

importance