326
DRAFT.
4.
From your letter of the 19th January
1906 and previous correspondence it appears
that in November 1905 the French Embassy
suggested that the understanding in regard to
Anglo-French financial cooperation in China
should be extended to the Hankow-Canton line.
The British and Chinese Corporation were
sounded by the Foreign Office as to their
willingness to agree to such an arrangement,
and Sir E.Satow as well as (through this
office) the Governor of Hong Kong were asked
for their views. Sir M. Nathan, [though he did
not fully grasp the natur8–6 he proposal}
? the proposal
objected to it. Sir E. Satow also objected
for reasons which he stated at length; he
pointed out that the cooperation of the French
would not help us in this matter, any more
than it had done in connexion with the
Szechuan and Harkow railway, as they were
distrusted by the Chinese, and he gave it as
his