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affairs and railway management and who is respected by the English, After careful consideration of every aspect of the case, I have been unable to find any official who is perfectly suitable, except Wu Ting-fang, lately Vice-President of the Board of Punishment. He is now in Hongkong where he has been undergoing medical treatment and he is gradually recovering his health. Formerly he undertook the heavy duties connected with the construction of the Railway between Tientsin and Chou and performed them with brilliance and success. His upright and straight-forward dealings have made him respected by both European and Chinese. I therefore propose that he should be consulted about the conduct of the railway affairs in Canton and that he should be asked to make the preliminary arrangements with the English in Hongkong, all important matters being, in accordance with the agreement, first submitted to the Viceroy for approval. If the proper preliminary steps are made in this way, we will not be in a state of uncertainty when the time comes for us to act. The Head Office will be established at Canton when the loan is borrowed and all the shares are sold. It will further be the duty of Wu Ting-fang, if he is appointed Chief Director, to confer with the British Company as to how many more men, European and Chinese, are required on the staff, so as to secure at the earliest possible date the advantages that will result from the completion of the railway, I therefore earnestly request you to memorialise the Throne that Wu Ting-fang, the late Vice-President of the Board of Punishment (who is now in his native province) be appointed to manage the Kowloon-Canton Railway affairs.