7
12
13
Of the surplus of the [net annual revenue of the railway lines after payment of interest and repayment of principal of the loan, first a participation of
per cent. of the
per cent. of the said surplus will be granted to the Syndicate in remuneration for the construction and the working of the railway lines. Secondly, an amount equal to said surplus will be transferred to a loan service reserve fund to be deposited with the two banks and bearing interest at the market rate, and the remainder will be at the disposal of the Imperial Government of China. The deposit of these surplus earnings shall, however, be discontinued when the accumulated loan service reserve fund shall have reached £
An account of the said loan service reserve fund will be rendered yearly to the Boards of Commissioners, the Wai-wu Pu, and to the Board of Revenue, and the fund will be drawn upon only in the case of the revenue of the railway lines being insufficient to meet the service of interest and principal of the loan. On redemption of the loan being completed, the balance of this fund will revert to the Chinese Government. This fund may, however, be used towards the final redemption of the loan, due notice to be given to the Syndicate of the intention of the Imperial Government so to use the fund.
29. The powers and authority given and delegated to the Imperial Directors by the Imperial Government of China shall, in the case of their promotion or removal, be transferred to their successors, and the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank and the Chinese Central Railways (Limited) may, subject to all their obligations hereunder, transfer or delegate all or any of their rights, powers, and discretions hereunder to any German or British Company, Directors, or agents, with power of further transfer and sub-delega- tion; such transfer, sub-transter, delegations, or sub-delegations to be subject to the approval of the Imperial Chinese Directors.
30. The Imperial Chinese Government may affix on the railway telegraph poles such wires as they may any time deem necessary for the Government service and like. wise the Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration may also affix on the railway telegraph poles such wires as the Telegraph Administration may require for their service, and for so affixing wires on the railway poles the Telegraph Administration shall contribute towards the cost of the erection of the poles and of their annual maintenance in proportion of the number of wires owned by the Telegraph Administration to those owned by the Railway Administration.
The Railway Administration shall not accept any commercial telegrams for transmission over their line except under special arrangements with the Telegraph Administration.
31. The Imperial Government shall take all reasonable measures to protect the property of the railway in case of need, and should at any time the Boards of Commis- sioners deem policing necessary at any point of the line, it shall be supplied by and at the expense of the Railway Administration. Under no circumstances must any foreign force be sent on the line or be posted about the station premises.
32. The railway shall not carry any mails other than those dispatched by the Imperial Chinese Postal Departments, and shall observe such regulations as the Imperial Government may adopt from time to time in respect of mail matters conveyed by the railways. The railway service mails may, however, be conveyed free of restrictions.
58. Differences arising between the Imperial Directors and the Syndicate will be taken up and decided with equity and justice by the Wai-wu Pu on the one side, and the Minister for Germany, and the Minister for Great Britain in China on the other side.
34. This Agreement is signed under authority of an Imperial Edict, dated
which has been officially communicated to the Ministers of Germany and Great Britain in Peking by the Wai-wu Pu.
35. Five sets of this Agreement are executed in English and Chinese, one set to be retained by the Wai-wu Pu, one by the Board of Commerce, one by the Imperial Directors, one by the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank, and one by the Chinese Central Railways (Limited). In the event of any doubt arising regarding the interpretation of the Contract, the English text shall rule.
Signed at Peking by the Contracting Parties this
day
Signed by the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation in accordance with
clause 5.
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
TIEN-TSIN-YANG-TSZE RAILWAY.
Minutes of the Seventeenth Meeting held at the Office of the Tien-tsin Customs Tuotai (Liang Ta-jén), on Saturday, August 11, 1906.
Present:
Taotai Liang Tun-yen.
Taotai C. L. Chow, Director of Northern Railways. Mr. H. Cordes; and
M. J. O. P. Bland.
SUBMITTING the final Agreement as drafted, Mr. Cordes suggests that taking this document as the basis for negotiation, it be now discussed with reference to the counter-proposals formally made by the Viceroy's Representatives in November 1903. Neither Mr. Liang nor Mr. Chow are familiar with the earlier negotiations, but the former expresses the view that the proposals put forward in 1903 do not apply to the situation as it now exists, and that an entirely new basis of negotiation is advisable. He claims that the Chinese Government is entitled to exclusive control of funds borrowed under Imperial Government guarantee, &c.
Without discussing the informal expressions of opinion, it is agreed that the next meeting will be held at 3 r.M. on Saturday the 18th instant, and that in the meanwhile the Chinese Representatives will acquaint themselves with the conditions of the draft Agreement and ascertain the present views of the Viceroy in regard to his counter- proposals of 1903, which the representatives of the Syndicates are prepared to discuss and in certain cases to accept.
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
Minutes of the Eighteenth Meeting held at the Office of the Taikwan Taotai at Tien-tsin, on Saturday, August 25, 1906.
Present:
Taotai Liang Tun-yen, representing the Viceroy. Taotai C. L. Chow,
Mr. H. Cordes, representing the Deutsche-Asiatische Bank, Mr. J. O. P. Bland, representing the Central Railways (Limited).
DISCUSSING the basis for the present negotiations and the best means of bringing about their satisfactory conclusion, Liang Taotai expresses the opinion that reference to the Preliminary Agreement and to past negotiations is unnecessary, and suggests that the Agreement be considered from a new standpoint based on existing conditions.
Mr. Cordes points out that the Anglo-German Syndicate's rights are necessarily based on the Preliminary Agreement, which cannot therefore be ignored, but he suggests that in the Final Agreement, when concluded, a clause might properly be inserted stating that by virtue of the terms therein recorded, the Preliminary Agreement is superseded and annulled.
Mr. Bland suggests that the Viceroy's counter-proposals of November 1903, having reference to the draft Final Agreement of that date, would appear to afford the best basis for the present negotiations. It is therefore essential in the first instance to know whether his Excellency adheres to those counter-proposals, or whether further modifica- tion of the Chinese Government's terms is to be expected.
Taotai Liang Tun-yen states that owing to the Viceroy's illness there has been no opportunity of obtaining defiuite instructions on the subject. He thinks, moreover, that the Syndicate's acceptance or non-acceptance of the counter-proposals of 1903 should be definitely stated.
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