TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
427 
Surely this can never be construed into a per¬ 
mission to officers to interfere in the private 
concerns of merchants—concerns of which all 
public officers must be totally ignorant. 
JB. What you desire, then, is, that English 
merchants should have permission to carry away 
gold and silver at their pleasure, received for 
goods imported by them. This is something 
new!— E. That is exactly what I want; but 
there is nothing new in it. It is exactly what is 
contained in the second article which you have 
yourselves altered and corrected, and which, in 
this state, has been in your possession for several 
days. I have demanded nothing but what is 
practised in all countries in which trade is un¬ 
derstood and cherished. 
H. If you consider the interference of the 
officers of Government vexatious and improper, 
let the matter be settled by the Poe-%as , or 
brokers, of the merchants themselves.—-!?. The 
brokers to whom you allude are appointed by 
the Burman Government, and completely under 
the control of the local officers. Their acts, 
therefore, would be exactly the acts of the Go¬ 
vernment itself. This will never answer. The 
concession, in the shape in which you make it, 
is of no Value whatever to us, and not worth 
any sacrifice on our part. Your Government 
