CRET.
No. 2852/1907.
Sir,
66
Hongkong,
6th August, 1908.
36197
OCT 10 1908
I have the honour to inform you that I received by last mail a Despatch (Secret of 26th June, 1908) from the Secretary of State for the Colonies calling my attention to the urgent necessity of moving in the question of a Joint Working Agreement between the Chinese and Hongkong Governments on the subject of the Canton-Kowloon Railway. I attach the duplicate copy of this despatch, in the last paragraph of which I am directed to keep you fully informed and in which it is suggested that I should consult with you in the matter. I shall therefore be glad of any observations and suggestions which Your Excellency may be good enough to make. I attach also a copy of my reply.
2.
In the course of a conversation with Your Excellency at the end of March last you expressed the view that the interests of this Colony would best be served if the negotiations on the part of the Chinese Government were to be left entirely in the hands of the Governor-General of the Two Kwang Provinces, who should be fully empowered in that behalf as the representative of the Central Government. By this means you anticipated that the interminable delays which took place in the former negotiations relative to this Railway might to some extent be averted and the inconveniences arising from the distance which separates the parties to the negotiations might be avoided. You undertook to use your best efforts to this end, and I have the honour to enquire whether Your Excellency has any information to give me in this respect.
His Britannic Majesty's Minister,
PEKING.