CO129-507-9 Chinese Telegraph Office- Hong Kong- transfer to Cantonese control 4-1-1928 - 20-7-1928 — Page 95

E.

57.

Enclosure No. 1.

ys-

Lovernment House

Hay Hay, 20th March, 1928.

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that I have

received a telegram from the Secretary of State for the

Colonies, dated 13th March, approving the proposal made

in my telegram of the 20th February that I should notify

Mr. Lai Cheuk Pan (3) that I cannot permit him

卓彬

to function any longer in Hong Kong as Superintendent of the

Chinese Telegraph Office; that he must vacate the premises

at once and hand over to the Electrical Engineer of the

Hong Kong Public Works Department, who will temporarily

act as custodian; that I should then endeavour to arrange

that the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company should assume

control of this office under a working arrangement with the

Canton authorities; and that meanwhile telegraphic messages

between Canton and Hong Kong should be handled by the

Government wireless stations at both ends.

2.

You will recollect that at the conference which

I had with Marshal Li Chai-sum at Canton on the 10th March,

at which you were present, the Cantonese Authorities urged

that I should not close down, even temporarily, the Chinese

Telegraph Office in Hong Kong, but that I should allow

the Canton Government to nominate a superintendent of

this office. It was then agreed between Marshal Li and

myself that the Canton Government should be permitted to

send a Cantonese merchant to Hong Kong to be manager of this

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONSUL-GENERAL,

CAN TO N.

office,