CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926 — Page 12

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renew their service and make a weekly call at Swatow for this

purpose. It was found that the boycott was still almost con-

pletely effective and that it was impossible to land or take on

board any cargo on the occasion of any of the twenty six cells

which the firm's vessels have made at that port since the

resumption of the service. The firm have on the other hand in-

curred a total loss of some five thousand five hundred taels,

i.e rather more than thirty pound a on each visit, in respect of

port dues, coal and other extra expenses, The firm, while

recognising that this expenditure is inconsiderable, maintain

that as a matter of principle it is not fair that they should be

called upon to carry out what is purely a humanitarian service,

which they consider should properly fall to His Majesty's

Goverment, without at least adequate remuneration for the extra

expenses entailed thereby. If it were in any way to their own

interests to maintain a service with Swetow, they would willingly

assist the British community there by conveying supplies to them;

but, so long as the sole object of their vessels calling at that

port is the maintenance there of the British residents, they

consider that the extra expenditure involved should be refunded

to them by His Majesty's Government.

4.

In these circumstances three alternative courses

present themselves; –

(1) to withdraw from Swatow the small British

community resident there. To this course, however,

there are at the moment grave political objections. The problem at Swatcw forms part only of the wider question of Canton, and the withdrawal of the colony

there......

may....