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H MOO.TROS KOMAD
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Bonds could now be issued at 102, the Canton Kowloon Railway was considered as a decidedly inferior security.
H.E. T'ANG SHAO YI absolutely declined to consider this offer. He was not prepared to conclude a contract on the fixed commission basis, nor would the Chinese Government agree to allow participation in profits.
even at the price which,
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He understood, the Corporation had previously suggested it would not make an agreement the Chinese Government being in a position to command better terms elsewhere. T'ang intimated that if the Corporation's terms were finally unacceptable to the Chinese Government, it would be justified in financing the railway in other quarters and observed that the terms now offered were conceded solely in recognition of the right conferred by the preliminary agreement - he laid stress on the liberal terms given by the Government of Hongkong in the loan to H.E. Chang Chih-Tung last year.
MR. BLAND stated that in accepting several important modifications of the conditions properly claimable under the preliminary agreement, the Corporation was earnestly endeavouring to place its relations with the Chinese Government on a footing of mutual interest and goodwill.
Should these endeavours prove to be unavailing, the only possible course would be to return to the original terms of the Concession which had received the Imperial Sanction and was therefore binding. He hoped, however, that the present negotiations would result in an amicable settlement of the matter. With a view to facilitating the same, he would urge upon the directors the advisability of making the most liberal offer possible, compatible with the prospect of a reasonable profit and reimbursement of expenses of the Loan issue.
At the same time the Chinese Government would no doubt recognise the justice of the Corporation's claim to be compensated for the annulment of its rights to participation in the profits of the enterprise, rights enjoyed under the several railway agreements.