............
527
waste paper on the grounde stated. I was informed
that the Note represented the views of the Viceroy
of Canton and local feeling in the matter, and that
the Wai Wu Pu could not take on itself the respons-
ibility of refusing to put forward those views. I
was invited to state my objections on paper, to fur-
nish the basis for a communication to the Viceroy.
This I did in my Note of September 11th.
As Your Lordship will notice I have asked the
Wai Wu Pu to instruct the Viceroy of Canton to nego-
tiate with the representative of the British and
Chinese Corporation. In view of His Excellency's
attitude I should have preferred another negotiator,
but the Wai Wu Pu have indicated him, and as any ar-
rangement made must be approved by him before it
can be concluded, I have after mature consideration,
decided that the best possible course under the cir-
cumstances is to endeavour to deal with him directly.
I should add that this is also the advice of the
Viceroy of Wuchang conveyed privately to me through
His Majesty's Consul-General at Hankow.
I have sent copies of this Despatch and enclo-
sures to the Governor of Hongkong.
It may be convenient if I explain that the Eng-
lish text of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement
does not accord exactly with the Chinese version of
clause 1. The former speaks of "railways from
Canton to British Kowloon" while the latter uses the
expression "British leased territory of Kowloon".
On my mentioning this fact to Mr. C. H. Rose, and ob-
serving that it was surely strange that the Corpora-
tion on the 28th March, 1899, should have signed an
Agreement undertaking to build a line for the Chinese
Government partly through territory leased to Great
Britain by a Convention dated nine months earlier,
he explained to me that at the time of signature,
his
and still less when the agreement was drafted,
principals were ignorant of the Convention in ques-
The wording of the Chinese version, however,
tion.
shows that the Chinese negotiator was acquainted
with it, and substituted the words above quoted.
Your Lordship will perceive that the first portion
of
**རམཊྛཱཎ། མགྒ4་