To the Editor of the "Norru-Cutwa Dainty News."
Sit—Referring to the statement, in Reuter's telegram of the 20th, instant that General Yang Sen hi landed with his troops from a. Portuguese steamer within 50 miles, from Hankow, I venture to point out that a steamer flying the Portuguese flag is not necessarily a. Portuguese steamer.
As a matter of fact the steamer in question cannot be a Portuguese steamer for the following reasons:- In the first place, a steamer must have a Portuguese passport before she can be considered a Portuguese steamer and these passports can only be granted by the Ministry for the Navy.
In the second place, a Portuguese steamer requires a Portuguese master, a Portuguese quartermaster, Portuguese engineers and a crew, two-thirds of which must be Portuguese.
In the third place, the writer! happens to know that there are no Portuguese steamers properly registered as such in these regions.
Unfortunately it is not the first time that the Portuguese flag has been illegally used by steamers and Boats navigating in the Yangtze, but this fact merely tends to show that the law is being transgressed and does not confer Portuguese nationality on the steamers,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.