4
Having referred the question to their Excellencies the Viceroy and the Governor, I am in receipt of the following telegraphic instructions :--
"Under the Agreement of the Eastern Chinese Railway Company the Chinese Government consented to certain Regulations for the construction of a railway line. The Agreement in question is not of the same nature as a Treaty between the two Governments.
The phrase 'exclusive rights of administration within the boundaries of the land purchased by the Railway Company' means the exclusive right of management of all matters pertaining to the railway, e.g., construction of workshops, railway stations, &c. Naturally the Railway Company must have the control of all matters within their province; but questions of jurisdiction, police, sanitation, in the adjoining territory are still in the hands of the Chinese Government. The railway land is not of the nature of a Concession, and the administration of it has no connection with the Company's commercial interests.
It is entirely unreasonable to suppose that a Government in making an Agreement with a public Company would abandon its rights of territorial sovereignty, and the Company should not therefore exceed the limits of the powers granted to them.
In proposing to establish an organization for territorial administration the railway has misunderstood the significance of the word 'administration' as used in the Agreement, and it is impossible for the Chinese Government to assent to the Company's contention.
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Prince Ch'ing to Sir J. Jordan.
(Translation.) Sir,
WITH regard to the various inquiries which have been made at the Board by Foreign Representatives respecting the establishment by Russian merchants of an Administrative Council at Harbin, I have the honour to inform your Excellency that the Viceroy of Manchuria and Governor of Fengtien reported by telegraph towards the end of last year, in reference to this matter that the Russians at Harbin were establishing an Administrative Council in the territory belonging to the railway, to which officers were being elected, the Consuls of various Powers being qualified to vote.
The Board thereupon addressed a communication to the Russian Minister, M. Pokotilow, with a view to the prohibition of these proceedings and with the request that the municipal Regulations in question might be withdrawn.
M. Pokotilow's reply to this communication was to the effect that Article 6 of the Chinese Eastern Railway Agreement conferred upon the Railway Company an absolute and exclusive right of administration in the territory occupied by them and that by establishing Administrative Councils in the various localities belonging to the railway the Company were in no wise going beyond their rights acquired under Article 6.
The Board protested against this contention, and pointed out that the occupation of lands under Article 6 of the Railway Agreement only meant that on lands really and effectively occupied by the railway, the Company had the right to erect buildings of all sorts and to set up telegraph lines under the exclusive management of the Company, for railway use; but that all matters connected with public safety and local administration still devolved upon the Chinese authorities to administer independently. This was shown by Article 5, which expressly stipulated that “the Chinese Government will take measures for the protection of the line and of the men employed thereon. All crimes and lawsuits arising on the land of the Company will be dealt with by the local officials in accordance with Treaty." From this it was sufficiently evident that the administrative powers in these lands were entirely vested in China, beyond any doubt whatsoever. The establishment by the Company of these Administrative Councils was therefore clearly an infraction of China's sovereign rights and the Board could under no circumstances consent thereto.
I have the honour to bring this correspondence to the knowledge of your Excellency, and avail, &c.
5
Inclosure 6 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Prince Ch'ing.
Your Highness,
Peking, March 2, 1908.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Highness' note of the 25th February in which you state that your Highness' Board regard the establishment of Russian Administrative Councils at Harbin and other places occupied by the Chinese Eastern Railway as opposed to the Agreement of the 8th September, 1896, and an infringement of China's sovereign rights to which the Chinese Government can in no circumstances give their consent.
In reply, I have the honour to state that on the receipt some days ago of a communication from the Russian Minister I forwarded a Report on this subject to His Majesty's Secretary of State, and that I shall now transmit a copy of your Highness' note to Sir Edward Grey and solicit his instructions on the question.
I avail, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN,
Inclosure 7 in No. 1.
M. Pokotilow to Sir J. Jordan.
Légation Impériale de Russie, Pékin,
le 29 Février, 1908.
CONFORMÉMENT à votre désir, j'ai l'honneur de vous envoyer ci-près une copie du contrat passé le 27 Août (8 Septembre), 1896, entre la Banque Russo-Chinoise et le Gouvernement Chinois au sujet de la construction du Chemin de Fer Trans-Manchourien.
Veuillez, &c.
(Signé) D. POKOTILOW.
Inclosure 8 in No. 1.
Agreement between the Chinese Government and the Russo-Chinese Bank, dated September 8, 1896.
ENTRE les Soussignés, son Excellence Shu King Chen, Ministre Plénipotentiaire de Sa Majesté l'Empereur de Chine à Saint-Pétersbourg, agissant en vertu d'un Edit Impérial, daté Kouang Su, 22 année, 7 mois, 20 jour (16 (28) Août, 1896), d'une part, et la Banque Russo-Chinoise, d'autre part, il a été arrêté ce qui suit :-
Le Gouvernement Chinois versera la somme de 5,000,000 de Kouping taels à la Banque Russo-Chinoise, et participera en proportion de cette mise de fonds aux bénéfices et pertes de la banque aux conditions émises dans un contrat spécial.
Le Gouvernement Chinois, ayant décidé la construction d'une ligne de chemin de fer établissant une communication directe entre la ville de Tchita et le Chemin de Fer Russe du Sud Oussoury, confie la construction et l'exploitation de ce chemin de fer à la Banque Russo-Chinoise aux conditions suivantes :-
1. La Banque Russo-Chinoise établira pour la construction et exploitation de ce chemin de fer une Société sous le nom de Société du Chemin de Fer Chinois de l'Est.
Le sceau dont cette Société devra se servir lui sera donné par le Gouvernement Chinois. Les statuts de cette Société seront conformes aux usages Russes pour les Sociétés de Chemin de Fer. Les actions de la Société ne pourront être acquises que par des sujets Chinois ou Russes.
Le Président de cette Société sera nominé par le Gouvernement Chinois, mais rétribué par la Société. Il peut avoir son domicile à Pékin.
Le Président sera chargé de veiller particulièrement à l'exécution minutieuse des engagements de la banque et de la Société du Chemin de Fer envers le Gouvernement Chinois.
C [2921 s--3]
571