CO129-556-16 Anti-piracy measures 17-1-1935 - 27-7-1935 — Page 19

anclosure in Shanghai despatch to Peking Number 506 of December 21, 1935.

Joint letter from Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Company, Limited, and Messre. Butterfield and swire, Shanghai, to H.B. M. Consul-General, Shanghai.

December 7th, 1935.

19

sir,

We have for acknowledgment your letter of 24th

October. It is with much regret that we note the

Commander-in-Chief, China Station, has informed His

Majesty's Anbassador that it is not feasible to allocate

a British warship to superintend the V/T communication

scheme for British tonnage operating in northern waters,

a task which appears to us to be of the highest importance

in commerce protection. Whilst we appreciate that the

present times are no doubt placing on H.M. Navy extra

burdens, these should not be of a permanent nature and

we shall be grateful if you will submit the following

observations to the Commander-in-Chief with a request

that he will give the matter his further consideration.

With regard to the question of improving the

existing arrangements, additional and more modern tonnage

has been brought into our schedules to Northern ports

and the more powerful W/T installations on these shipa

have facilitated ship-to-ship communication. At the

same time, increasingly competitive conditions have

forced the British companies to examine more and more

closely the question of avoiding competition between

themselves; the obvious result of any move to this end

18 to space out loadings and sailings of British ships

and such an arrangement increases the difficulty in

communication as compared with a situation where ships

sail in company.

With

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