CO129-507-1 Proposal to dispose of Boxer Indemnity funds- claim by Hong Kong university 21-12-1927 - 24-7-1928 — Page 123

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which I shall deal with in the next paragraph, would there

be any analogy with the proposal recently under considera-

tion for using the monry to help pay the cost of our

defence measures in China, since the employment of the

money for the reduction of admitted debts owed by China

to British subjects would be a purpose of mutual benefit,

while, if the interest alone were thus applied, there

would be no actual diminution of the sum remitted, which

would remin at the figure originally contemplated. The

fact that the suspension of the measures proposed by the

Willingdon Commission and the inability of Chine to pay

the debts under consideration were ultimately due to the

iame osuses of civil disorder, would moreover make the use

of the interest on the Boxer Indemnity funds for the relief

of her creditors not altogether inappropriate.

As far

as the commerèial debta are concerned, the use of the in-

terest alone would at best be only a temporary makeshift,

perhaps sufficient only to relieve the British creditors

of a part of the burden of interest which hey are now pay-

ing to the banks. It would, however, go a long way to

satisfy the claims of British subjects for personal loss

or injury, including those arising from the Manking

outrage,