[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]"
275
CO
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[June 3.]
21622
SECTION 2.
RECH REG 18 JUN 07
(17908]
(No. 187.) Sir,
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 3.)
Peking, April 18, 1907. WITH reference to your telegram No. 39 of the 13th April, I have the honour to inclose copy of a letter received on the 15th April from Mr. Bland, complaining of delay on the part of the Chinese Government in matters relating to the Shanghae- Nanking Railway and the Nan-p'iao coal mines.
I spoke to his Excellency Tong Shao-yi at the Wai-wu Pu on the 16th, and as regards the Nan-p'iao coal mines, he said that the managers of the Northern Railways desired to discuss the matter with Mr. E. G. Hillier, with whom the original arrange- ments had been concluded, and who is expected to return to North China next month. As for the questions respecting the Shanghae-Nanking Railway, his Excellency expressed his willingness to treat with Mr. Bland, and I gathered that in his view they offered no special difficulty. I advised Mr. Bland to see his Excellency, and authorized him to say that I should be pleased at any time to arrange a meeting at which the three of us could discuss the outstanding questions and come to a general understanding on the whole subject.
This morning Mr. Bland reported to me that he had conveyed my message to Mr. Tang, who had fallen in with the suggestion, and would be prepared to give effect to it in the course of the next few days.
I should add that the announcement of the new appointments at the Board of Posts and Communications is expected daily.
Inclosure in No. 1.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
Sir,
British and Chinese Corporation to Sir J. Jordan.
Peking, April 15, 1907. I HAVE the honour to request your kind assistance in regard to certain important interests of the British and Chinese Corporation, which are being seriously prejudiced and delayed by the Chinese Government, and to ask that representations may be made in regard thereto. I have made every effort, by personal applications and correspon- dence; to obtain the negotiation and settlement of these questions, but without result, and am therefore compelled to request your intervention and assistance.
The matters to which I refer are-
1. The Shanghae-Nanking Railway; and
2. The Nan-p'iao coal mines.
In regard to the former several questions (ie., provision of funds, land purchases, payment of commissions due, and reorganization of the system of administration) require adjustment to conform to the terms of the Loan Agreement. By that Agreement such questions should be negotiated by the Director-General of the Railway and the Corporation's representative, but as there has been no Director-General for the past two months, and as the Board of Communications declines to deal with them, no satis. faction can be obtained.
On the 31st December last I submitted a comprehensive statement of the Railway's affairs to the then Director-General, his Excellenay Tang Shao-yi, intimating that the Corporation was prepared, under certain simple conditions, to give effect to the views which he had expressed in regard to modification of the system of control, and requesting the settlement of various matters outstanding. To this communication I can obtain no reply, and the terms of the Loan Agreement continue to be ignored-a state of affairs which, if indefinitely maintained, must give rise to difficulties of a serious
[2525 c-2]