-
- 8.
64
?}.
11.
On the 6th August Colonel Hayley Bell
telegraphed to Mr. A.F.H. Edwardes, the officiating Inspector
General of Customs at Peking, inquiring whether he was or
was not to lend assistance to the Canton Government in its
new scheme of taxation. Mr. Edwardes replied on the 8th
August - "I cannot issue instructions concerning line to
be followed until Foreign Powers have made up their minds
what they are going to do".
12.
I pass now from the question of what effect
the Nanking scheme is likely to have on Hong Kong trade
to the much more important question of what should be the
attitude of His Majesty's Government towards deliberate
destruction of British treaty-rights by unilateral, arbitrary action of a Chinese regional authority. On this point the British Foreign Office has tentatively expressed the
following opinion:- "It would be better to accept tariff autonomy as inevitable, especially as it is accompanied by
the maintenance of the Customs administration and the
abolition of certain very onerous taxes. If this view is accepted, our line would then be to instruct Sir S. Barton to protest, inform the Nanking Government that our merchants will be supported in refusing to pay, but indicating his readiness to enter into a discussion of the whole question. He should then secure such concession in the way of reductions or postponement as seems possible and eventually acquiesce". (Foreign Office telegram to Peking No. 488 of the 30th July).
13.
Upon these proposals Sir Miles Lampson, His Lajesty's Minister at Peking, has telegraphed the following
comments
Page 60Page 61
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.