No. 184.
Mr. Seward
to Mr. Cadwalader.
United
States Consulate General,
Shanghai, April 27, 1875.
(Received June 17.)
No. 923.]
Sir: I have the honor to hand to you herewith a
copy of a dispatch dated the 1st of March, which I have received from Mr.
Avery. In this
[Page 412]
connection, I have
to advise you that the Taotai at this port has directed his subordinate
officers along both banks of the Yangtse River and the neighboring sea-board
to issue appropriate proclamations regarding telegraph cables, and looking
to their protection.
Owing to the shoaliness of the waters adjacent to the coasts of China, and
the innumerable craft which navigate them, sea-cables in this part of the
world will always be subject to interruption. But we may expect fewer
interruptions than heretofore, and, doubtless, it will not be many years
before the Chinese will construct or permit the construction of land-lines.
These will be likely to supersede the sea-cables of the coast, and do away
with the annoyances to which we are now subjected.
In this connection, I am glad to be able to state that the prospects of the
settlement of the difficulty in regard to the Foo-chow-Amoy line are
excellent. Mr. De Lano is acting there as the friend of both parties, and
the chances of success are largely increased by his counsels.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 923.]
Mr. Avery to Mr.
Seward.
Legation of the United States,
Peking, March 1,
1875.
Sir: I am in receipt of your No. 413, inclosing
copy of correspondence between yourself and Mr. Consul Lord, at Ning-po,
relative to asking of the Chinese officials at the latter place the
arrest and punishment of persons who have cut the Danish cable. Your
suggestions to Mr. Lord and his subsequent action evince a sense of the
right policy to he pursued in the premises, and I hope to hear that the
Ning-po Taotai has kept his promise.
There is no reason, in the nature of things, nor in a fair construction
of treaty obligations, why property in telegraphs should not be
protected as well as property in anything else. It is gratifying to know
that on this occasion, as on many others, the representatives of the
United States have been foremost in practical and disinterested efforts
to introduce and protect telegraph enterprise in China.
Should the sea-board officials generally act in the right spirit in
response to the letter of the Tsungli Yamen concerning cable protection,
we may expect hereafter more promptness and harmony in the measures
necessary, and something like a consistently friendly native policy.
This would relieve our own officers of much trouble.
The tendency of your recent and former action in behalf of cable
protection, supported by that of our consuls through your advice, has
been to hasten the adoption of such a policy. I am glad to feel, now
that the matter has become a leading question at Peking, that there is
such hearty accord regarding it among all in the service of our
Government.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
George F. Seward, Esq.,
United States Consul-General, Shanghai.
