197
attach so much importance to the appointment of a con-
sulting engineer, an official whose very existence is
not contemplated in the Canton-Kowloon Railway agreement.
The engineer-in-chief on the other hand, who has to be proposed and certified by the Corporation as competent for his post, is, under the agreement, responsible for
the efficient construction of the railway.
In these
circumstances it appears to Sir E. Gray that a consult-
ing engineer of whatever nationality can in no way
usurp the functions of the engineer-in-chief, and that the sole duty of the former would be the inspection of
material, and this only if authority were delegated to
him by the latter, who is supreme in all technical
matters.
A copy of your letter under reply is being sent
to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, and his attention
is being drawn to the suggestion as to Dr. James con-
tained in the last paragraph.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient,
humble Servant,