CO129-518-3 Proposals to hold periodical conferences between principal British authorities in China- and the government in... 13-8-1929 - 31-12-1929 — Page 28

COPY

28

My dear Clement.

XXXXXXXXXA XXXXXXX XXXX XXX.

British Legation,

Peking.

October 4th, 1929.

XXX

I was a little surprised when I heard you had

wired to the 0.0. suggesting such periodical visits

to you as a matter of routine. If you had consulted

me, I would have pointed out the difficulties of time

and place with which I am at present beset, and from

which you are happily free. As it was, I had to

point them out to the F.O., who entirely appreciated

the practical difficulties in the way.

The same thing applies to this meeting of Chinese

Secretaries. From your telegrams you obviously have

no inkling of my difficulties. I have to keep one man

permanently in Nanking, and in the Chinese Secretariat

I simply must have the Chinese Secretary with me just

now. You live a comparatively normal life, with no need

to be continually taking the road for months on end and

without such pressing problems as Provisional Court,

Extrality, and Heavens alone knows what not, which are

my daily fare! Consequently I confess I am just a

little pained at the summary way in which your telegrams

seem to assume that it is perfectly natural that I or

the principal members of my senior staff should waltz

down to Hong Kong whenever happens best to suit Hong Kong's

convenience! And I confess to being just a trifle

nettled at a telegram just in yesterday from your "locum

tenens", summarily dismissing my suggestion that, if I

can't send Teichman down to Hong Kong, we might consider

the alternative of the other two coming up to Shanghai .