[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.}
C.O.
206
CHINA RAILWAYS.
19974
5
[April 9.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
RECR
Rect 5 JUN 07)
SECTION 1.
[11357]
No. 1.
Sir,
Chinese Central Railways to Foreign Office.-(Received April 9.)
110, Cannon Street, London, April 8, 1907.
I AM instructed by my Directors to acknowledge receipt of Sir Eric Barrington's letter of the 4th instant, informing them that inasmuch as the British and Chinese Corporation are emphatically opposed to any action that would subordinate their impending negotiations for the Shanghae-Ningpo Railway loan, and as in Sir Edward Grey's opinion it will be impossible to proceed, pari passu, with the negotiations for both that loan and the Tien-tsin-Yangtsze loan, he proposes to instruct His Majesty's Minister in Peking to give precedence to the former, and only to take up the Tien-tsin- Yangtsze Railway negotiations after the other has been concluded.
My Directors cannot but defer to Sir E. Grey's judgment in this matter, but at the same time I am to say that they would view with extreme regret the prospect of any serious postponement of the negotiations for the Tien-tsin-Yangtze Railway, which, as I had the honour to point out in my letter of the 27th ultimo, have been practically brought to the point of conclusion. We have conceded to the Chinese Representatives practically all that they originally asked for, and only the signatures are wanted to complete the business. The Chinese Central Railways cannot, of course, urge anything in derogation of the claims of the British and Chinese Corporation in respect to the Shanghae-Ningpo line, but they venture to think that if it should be found possible to conclude the Tien-tsin-Yangtsze Agreement first, the terms of that Agreement, to which the British and Chinese Corporation by virtue of their joint interest in the Chinese Central Railways are parties, might be found a model for the Shanghae-Ningpo loan, and in that case the negotiations for the latter would be much simplified and abreviated. My Directors also feel that in loyalty to their German associates in the enterprise, they are bound to press on Sir Edward Grey's consideration the claims of the Tien-tsin-Yangtsze line as earnestly as possible. They would there- fore venture to express the hope that in issuing instructions to Sir John Jordan it may at least be left open to him to exercise his discretion in support of the Tien-tsin- Yangtsze line should circumstances, in his opinion, permit such a course to be taken without detriment to the claims of the British and Chinese Corporation.
In any case my Directors propose to continue negotiations so long as there is any hope of a reasonably satisfactory conclusion being reached, even if Sir John Jordan is unable to intervene, and in this connection I am to inclose copy of a further telegram received from Mr. Bland. It will be seen from this that new negotiators on the Chinese side are again appointed, viz., the two Viceroys of Wachang and Chihli, and Mr. Bland urges us to insist on the negotiations being transferred to Peking, or in the alternative to the Viceroy Yuan Shih Kai alone. It is obvious that negotiation with two principals so far apart as Wuchang is from Tien-tsin is impossible, and my Directors fully endorse Mr. Bland's request that the Chinese Government be called upon to name some one negotiator with proper authority-either the Board of Communications in Peking, which, it is understood, is now charged with the conduct of all railway matters, or else to the Viceroy of Chihli in his capacity of Superintentent of Trade. My Directors would therefore respectfully ask that Sir John Jordan may be instructed to lend his assistance to this extent.
[2449 i-1]
I have, &c. (Signed) THOS. GILBERT,
Secretary.
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