It appears that the original text has been heavily distorted due to OCR errors. I will attempt to correct the text and format it according to the given rules.
The text seems to be a historical document, possibly a diplomatic correspondence. The first part is heavily distorted, but the second part appears to be a coherent text.
Here is the corrected text:
transference of the negotiations to Peking, not the bases submitted to him.
I rejoined that I had known for the past month and more that all I was waiting for was the appointment of a negotiator by Prince Ch'ing, and that I could not comprehend why the question of this misunderstanding had not been raised long ago.
It was not possible to abort it now with any show of reason.
After some further discussion, Mr. T'ong promised to see the Prince and discuss it with him again.
The Canton notables...
I asked Mr. Tanghill to go and see Mr. T'ung and talk matters over with him privately. Mr. T'ong stated that the Tai Tu Pu knew nothing officially about the humpong scheme which had been mooted by one Chang, a Singapore merchant. He objected to him and nothing was being done. He appeared to attach no importance to the project.
In regard to the Nantong-Kowloon Railway, a telegram had been sent to the Viceroy in order to clear up the favourable misunderstanding, and it was hoped that a reply...
Page information and other non-text elements will be preserved as per the rules. However, the initial distorted text is not coherent and appears to be a mix of different languages and characters. It is not possible to correct it without more context.
The Chinese text "" is preserved as is.