(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
C.
537
[July 15.28491
SECTIORE &
Reef 10 AUG 07
[23377]
No. 1.
(No. 245.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received July 15.)
Peking, May 27, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Acting Consul-General at Chengtu, forwarding a set of Regulations which have been drawn up with the view of intrusting the construction of the Hankow-Szechuan line to a commercial Company under the supervision of the provincial Government.
The attempts which are being made to construct railways south and west of Hankow with native capital have, so far, proved miserable failures, but still public opinion refuses to be convinced of the necessity of having recourse to foreign assistance. Some of the responsible officials, however, who have themselves indulged in these experiments, are beginning to realize that railway construction in China cannot, under present circumstances, make any progress without foreign capital. The new President of the Board of Communications, Ts'ôn, told me to-day that he has urged this point of view upon the Empress Dowager, but he does not anticipate that it will be accepted at present either by the Court or the provincial authorities. What, he said, was wanted was a fair arrangement on both sides. The only Agreement that answered this purpose was that of the Northern Railway line. The Shanghae- Nanking contract was an iniquitous instrument, and the Canton-Kowloon" oue, although more reasonable, was unsatisfactory in some respects.
It is unfortunate that the Shanghae-Nanking line should attract so much adverse criticism. Rightly or wrongly, the Chinese are convinced that the construc- tion was on far too expensive a scale, and that it must be many years before they can see any return on their outlay. They say quite plainly that they do not want "first-class" lines of railways, but railways which will afford a prospect of earning a dividend within a reasonable time, and they point to the success of the Peking- Hankow line as a case in point.
The Peking Syndicate's short line is, however, regarded as far the worst venture in railway construction to which China stands committed, and, were it not for the great success of the Northern Railway, the British record in railway construction would scarcely command their confidence.
However erroneous these views may be, it seems to me important that they should not be left entirely out of account if we are to obtain our share of future railway construction in China.
I have, &c. (Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
(No. 27.) Sir,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Acting Consul-General Fox to Sir J. Jordan.
Chengtu, May 1, 1907. MR. HOSIE, in his despatch No. 21 of the 4th July, 1901, transmitted a set of draft Regulations issued by the General Railway Bureau of Szechuan, in which the Provincial Government indicated in general terms the measures it proposed to take for the construction of the Szechuan portion of the Chuan-Han Railway. Mr. Campbell, in his despatch No. 3 of the 13th February, 1905, forwarded a set of supplementary Regulations setting out the various ways in which the necessary funds were to be raised. These Regulations Mr. Campbell described as complicated, offering opportunities for abuses of the usual type, and not of a nature to induce the people of Szechuan to invest voluntarily in the enterprise.
As you are aware, this prognostication has been amply verified; the affairs of the railway have not prospered under official management. After three years of strenuous
[2571 p-4]
B