WWI Royal Navy Captain Archive Re: British Trade, Japanese, Germans

WWI Royal Navy Captain Archive Re: British Trade, Japanese, Germans

World War I

Archive

ca. 1913-1914

Various

WWI Royal Navy Captain Archive Re: British Trade, Japanese, Germans

WWI Royal Navy Captain Archive Re: British Trade, Japanese, Germans

WORLD WAR I. Archive of letters with handwritten annotations by Frederick A.

Powlett, as Captain of the H.M.S Newcastle, dated September 1913 - March 1914, a total

of 33pp, measuring 8" x 13". Hole punches at left, some soiling and creasing, slight curling to edges, a few tiny tears, faint storage odor, else Very Good.

Comprised of:

1) Typed Letter Signed, "F. A. Powlett", as Captain, 8pp, Wei Hai Wei, China, September

10, 1913. A handwritten note at top of first page by Captain Powlett reads, in full, "This was sent by C. in C. [Commander-in-Chief] as it stood to Admiralty & a copy (with

omission of paragraph re consuls to the F.O." Initialed by Powlett as "FAP"

Powlett's handwritten notes can be found throughout the letter: on the verso of p4, "a

merchant asked the meaning of the S.O.'s pendant flown by Newcastle, did it mean that the English Captain was above all the others", and on the verso of p5, "I took good care

to have an excuse always ready for not taking him away from his work"

In this letter, Powlett discusses British trade "from a Naval point of view"', noting that it is suffering a gradual decline, giving insight to the causes of decline, and offering some suggestions:

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...the Japanese are straining every nerve to change the Yangtse valley from a British sphere of influence to a Japanese one, and if things go on as at present, their efforts seem likely to be successful. They are using methods fair and unfair to this end."

"I would here call attention to the enormous importance that the Chinese put on rank, and how owing to their view, that the greater the rank, the greater the protection, that this factor has also to be taken very closely into consideration when trying to further and support trade."

"I cannot too strongly put forward my own feelings of misgiving at the lack of active support at present given to our trade. The Yangtse valley is a long way from England, and if I may venture to say so, it never yet seems to have been properly understood at home. permitting our trade to languish.

2) Typed Letter marked "COPY", 1p, Peking, China, February 2, 1914, by Sir J. N.

Jordan, unsigned, regarding Captain Powlett's letter dated September 10, 1913, of which he was provided extracts for his comment. Jordan writes, in part, "Captain Powlett's observations touch on several matters of great concern to British interests, and I should be glad if you could ask him to amplify them with. more definite information. and to indicate more precisely the nature of the remedy which he proposes."

Typed Letter by Frederick Powlett, as Captain, unsigned, but with his handwritten annotations throughout, 15pp, Shanghai, China, March 2, 1914, responding to the letter of Sir John Jordan dated February 2, 1914. Powlett greatly expands on his original letter regarding his perceived decline in British trade here in this letter, and even adds three pages of hand-drawn tables: Table 1, "Gross Trade of China", Table 2, "Yearly Advance or Drop"; Table 3, "Yearly Proportion Per Cent of Gross Trade of Each Nation", and Table 4, "Yearly Percentage of Shipping" Typed Letter by Frederick Powlett, as Captain, unsigned, but with his handwritten annotations throughout, 9pp, Shanghai, China, March 31, 1914, remarking on the German methods in China: The more one studies German effort in China the more it seems to me to be borne on one that all the methods have a very definite object in view, vis, the expansion of the future... The Germans...are not only capturing most of the trade but are also shortcircuiting an existing market - Hankow. Their principal methods seems to be a total disregard of the fact that by treaty they are not allowed to actually carry out trade or establish works... this they do freely.. with the acquiescence and even assistance of their Diplomatic and Consular Officials." Frederick Armand Powlett, C.B.E. (1873-1963) was an officer of the Royal Navy. In 1900, Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Edward H. Seymour, said of Powlett, "Lieutenant Frederick A. Powlett, my Flag Lieutenant, was with me throughout the expedition, towards Peking, and since. He has been most useful at Tientsin, in addition to his other duties, in arranging the signals and communications with the tower and our batteries for firing on the Chinese guns, also in trying to surprise and capture Chinese signallers at night." Powlett was Captain of the H.M.S. Newcastle, Bristol Class/Light Cruiser, from December 1912 to June 1916.