§ COLONEL SIR H. VINCENTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, having regard to the increasing pressure of commercial matters at Her Majesty's Legation at Pekin, and the necessity for the utmost activity and vigilance in support of the commercial interests and claims of British subjects throughout the Chinese Empire, he will consider the desirability of creating a commercial department under Mr. Brenan or other high official of Her Majesty's consular service in China, well acquainted with provincial governments, their languages, and divers methods, to conduct correspondence on commercial matters, to sift them with promptitude, and prepare for the political assistance of Her Majesty's Minister, with the several Yamens of the Chinese Government and the Grand Council of the Empire?
MR. CURZONI think my honourable Friend must have forgotten that a commercial attaché has recently been appointed for China in the person of Mr. Jamieson, Her Majesty's Consul General at Shanghai, whose acquaintance with China is probably second to none; and it will be desirable to test the working of this arrangement before superseding it by the creation of a fresh department.