563
3. Two or four Vice-Presidents shall be appointed by Imperial Decree, to assist in the general direction of the Senate's affairs. They shall be selected from among the officers of the third or higher grade in the Boards and other Public Departments.
4. The Senators will be nominated either by the Throne or by election.
5. In the Senate equal powers will be enjoyed by every Senator.
6. The Sessions of the Senate shall be of two kinds :-
(a) Annual and (b) Extraordinary. The annual Session shall last for three months; an Extraordinary Session may be called at any time, and shall last for one month.
7. The opening and closing of a Session shall be announced by Imperial Decree published in the "Gazette."
8. The ceremony of opening the Senate will be performed either by His Majesty the Emperor in person or by a Prince or high officer of State nominated by special Decree, who will announce the matters to be discussed in the coming Session.
Section 2.-Appointment of Senators.
9. The following classes of persons, if over the age of 30, shall be eligible for selection as Senators :-
(a) Princes and hereditary nobles.
(b) Imperial clansmen and collateral relatives of the Imperial House.
(c) Officers of the various Public Departments of the fourth or lower rank, with the exception of judicial and police officers.
(d) Owners of property to the value of at least 1,000,000 dollars.
(e) Members of the various Provincial Councils ("Tza I Chü")
10. A list of Princes and hereditary nobles suitable for appointment will be prepared by the Grand Council in consultation with the Imperial Clan Court and the Board of Dependencies, and submitted to His Majesty the Emperor, who will select not more than ten.
11. A list of Imperial clansmen, officers of Public Departments, and owners of property suitable for appointment will be prepared by the Imperial Clan Court, the Board of Civil Office, and the Board of the Interior. These nominees will then elect representatives from among themselves in the following proportions: Imperial clansmen, 5 representatives; officers of Boards, &c., 100; owners of property, 10 per cent.
12. The election of representatives of the Imperial clansmen, officers of Boards, and owners of property will be conducted in the following manner: A list of the persons nominated and a voting paper will be sent to each nominee, who will be required to fill in the voting paper and return it to the Senate.
13. After a certain number of representatives have been elected by the members of a Provincial Council the list will be submitted to the high provincial authorities, who will nominate a certain fixed number, being guided by the amount of confidence enjoyed by a nominee among his fellow provincials and the number of votes cast in his favour.
14. The number of representatives of each Provincial Council will be limited to one-tenth of the total representation of the Provincial Councils.
15. Detailed Regulations for the election of Senators will be issued later on.
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
C.0.
[September 3, 1916]
Rece SECTION 423 F 08
[31047]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,-(Received September 7.)
(No. 338.) Sir,
Peking, July 22, 1908. MR. FRASER placed the suggestion of Chang Chih-tung, mentioned in my despatch No. 270 of the 11th ultimo, that Mr. Bland should go to Hankow and open negotiations for a Hankow-Szechuan Railway loan, before the Viceroy Ch'ên K'uei-lung, and in reply he was informed that the Provincial Governments had been forbidden by the Court to raise loans for railway construction, and was requested to convey to me his Excellency's desire that Mr. Bland should postpone a visit to Hupei until the situation altered. I inclose a despatch from Mr. Fraser on the subject.
It appears to me improbable that the Hankow-Szechuan line will be taken seriously in hand until some progress is made in regard to the two matters of (1) the redemption of the Luhan Railway, and (2) the construction of the Hankow-Canton trunk line.
I have, &c.
(Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul-General Fraser to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 38.) Sir,
Hankow, June 30, 1908. ON receipt of your despatch No. 16 concerning his Excellency Chang Chih-tung's suggestion that Mr. Bland might negotiate with the Viceroy here a loan for the construction of the railway hence to Szechuan, I sent his Excellency Ch'ên a note (copy and translation inclosed) recounting previous negotiations and suggesting that the state of the money markets at home and the proffered support of the Grand Secretary Chang with the Council made this a good opportunity for insuring the carrying out on terms beneficial to China of this boon to Hupei trade.
His Excellency's reply (copy and translation inclosed), however, proves that he is not prepared to move, in face of Imperial prohibition, which his predecessor also held to bar any loan proposals from the Provincial Government, nor does he mention having received any communication from the Grand Secretary.
I am trying to ascertain the number of shares actually taken up for the Hupei section of the trunk line westward and the immediate prospects of the work.
I have, &c.
(Signed) E. H. FRASER.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Consul General Fraser to Viceroy Ch'ên K'wei-lung
Hankow, June 24, 1908. IN the summer of 1905, when his Excellency the Grand Secretary Chang was negotiating the loan for the resumption of the Canton-Hankow Railway, he showed me a proposal by the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank for a loan to construct the Hupei section of the railway.