CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926 — Page 519

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much more likely to earn the hatred of the other Powers who will accuse us of having sold the pass,

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as well as the contempt of the Chinese, who will be

encouraged in their general attack on the Treaties.

Moreover, the Inspector General of the Maritime

Customs entirely disagrees with this policy, and

we shall not even get a good word from that quarter,

A month ago the Cantonese were still frightened and might have listened to reason, but they have now recovered from the effects of the naval action taken

at Canton and they have gone too far in their national campaign to pay any attention to protestations

of good intentions. The troubles at Hankow which have

developed since these memoranda were written show

clearly that they are all out for the abolition of Treaties on the grand scale and that nothing we can

do now by ourselves is likely to stop them.

It may be said that the maintenance of a united

front amongst the Powers is a bogey of which the

Chinese are no longer afraid and that we may as well

abandon it, but we may venture to doubt if this is so

since so long as the Powers remain outwardly united there is always a chance that the Chinese may suspect

that there is something up their sleeve.

The only policy which contains any prospects of being able to satisfy the above requirements is the

policy of recognising the Canton Government as the

national Government of China. This policy it is, unfortunately, too early yet to adopt.

Recognition