11. The Chinese Telegraph Administration has, and has always had, an office in the Queen's Road, situated in the same building as the offices of the Eastern Extension and Great Northern Telegraph Companies, and messages can also be sent if desired from the station at Sham-shui-po, though the station has not hitherto been used for the purpose, the line being employed entirely for traffic between Hong Kong and Canton and stations beyond. This traffic is considerable.
12. I consider that there are strong objections to allowing the Chinese Telegraph Administration to continue to co-operate in British territory except with the express sanction of this Government, especially in view of the fact that the Chinese have always objected to a British Company, the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company, owning lines in China, and so have shown their views as to the rights of sovereignty in this matter.
It seems, however, useless to make further representations to the Director-General of Chinese Telegraphs, and diplomatic representations through His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking would probably only result in further protracted correspondence.
13. In these circumstances I propose to introduce an Ordinance into the Legislature making the construction and working of telegraph lines illegal in the future without a licence from this Government, which would be issued on such terms and under such conditions as the Governor in Council might determine. If such an Ordinance were passed, I should recommend the grant of a licence to the Chinese Telegraph Administration subject to an annual payment and to various conditions, one of which would be that the ownership of the actual line should be recognized as vested in the Hong Kong Government, in the same way as the ownership of the line to the old frontier was so recognized. The Chinese Telegraph Administration would then be allowed to work, maintain, and take the profits from the line as they do now.
This would be a better arrangement than for the Government or Eastern Extension Telegraph Company to take over the maintenance and working of the line within British territory, as it would not involve a transmitting station at the frontier, which would be necessary if the two parts of the line to Hong Kong were under separate Administrations and messages had to be handed at the frontier from one Administration to another. Also I am informed by the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company's representative here that the maintenance and working of the line to Canton is satisfactorily carried out by the Chinese Telegraph Administration at the present time, and that his Company would probably prefer the arrangement above suggested to one by which they would themselves have to work and maintain the Hong Kong end of the line.
1. The question considerably affects the interests of the Company, which depends for its traffic to China in great measure on a good understanding with the Chinese Telegraph Administration." For example, the lines, 12 and 30 miles in length, connecting the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company's cables at Woosung and Sharp Peak with the Settlements at Shanghae and Foochow respectively are the property of the Chinese Telegraph Administration, but are worked by the Eastern Extension and Great Northern Telegraph Companies by arrangement with the Chinese Telegraph Administration, a concession which is probably made in consideration of the accommodation given to the Chinese Administration by the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company in its offices at Hong Kong and over the line from Hong Kong to Sham-shui-po. Any disturbance of the existing arrangements in Hong Kong might therefore react upon the arrangements at the places referred to.
In view of these interests, I would suggest that a copy of this despatch be sent to the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company for their observations before instructions are issued to me in the matter.
I have, &c. (Signed)
office at Sham-shui-po, which period had already expired; that the office should therefore be at once removed within the Chinese boundary. He therefore had again to request me to take immediate steps for the removal of the Sham-shui-po telegraph office, lines, and materials, without delay into Chinese territory, and reply.
On receipt of the above I again instructed Chu Pao-k'uei, Taotai, to consult at once on the matter. He now reports as follows:-
"In accordance with your Excellency's instructions I held a personal interview with the General Manager of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company. The Sham-shui-po office is, however, in the Kowloon extension, which, as stated in the Treaty of 1898, is leased for a period of ninety-nine years, and is accordingly not on the same footing as the British territory of Hong Kong. The Sham-shui-po telegraphs in the Kowloon extension are in identically the same situation as the telegraphs in Shanghae and Tien-tsin Concessions, and also those of Wei-hai Wei and Ch'ing-tao, where the Chinese Telegraph Administration has established offices and set up poles for many years without the slightest opposition. It seems only natural that the precedent established in other Concessions should be followed in this.
"Moreover, though the Chinese telegraphs are controlled by officials, the Court, out of consideration for commerce, permits the original holders of shares to retain them as formerly, so that the Chinese telegraphs are still the property of private individuals. I therefore have decided to beg your Excellency to reply to Sir Pelham Warren, the Consul-General, asking him to request the Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong, to consider the close friendship between England and China, and to allow this matter to be conducted on the lines which have been followed in all other Concessions, and to permit the question of removing the Sham-shui-po office to lapse, thus preserving uniformity and avoiding discrepancy. It will be a great thing for the Chinese Telegraph Administration and for trade generally.
"As to the six months' limit mentioned in your original letter, there is no record of such in the office of the Administration."
Having received this Report, I carefully examined into the matter, The Chinese Telegraph Administration has for a long time past erected poles and established telegraph offices in Concessions such as Shanghae, Tien-tsin, Wei-hai Wei, and Ch'ing-tao without opposition, and it is a right which China should have. In the present case, Sham-shui-po, being in the Kowloon extension, leased, as stated in the Agreement, for ninety-nine years should, as a matter of course, be treated according to the precedent established in other Concessions. Moreover, the shares in the Chinese telegraphs are owned by private individuals, and the telegraphs are private property.
Besides, the establishment of offices and sending of telegrams cannot but be beneficial to the trading community. Your country has hitherto been most fair in her dealings with regard to commerce, and I have to request you, as Consul-General, to reply to the Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong, earnestly beseeching him to examine the records of Concessions in other ports, and, by graciously consenting to allow the Sham-shui-po telegraph office, poles, and telegraph lines in the extension to remain where they are, cement the close friendship of our countries and confer a favour on the mercantile community.
I beg that you will favour me with a reply.
(Translation.)
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
Wu Chung-Hsi to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
M. NATHAN,
Sir,
[Undated.]
ON the 21st January I received your note stating that the consultation with the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company on the taking over of the lines had continued for a month without result.
I have now received an additional despatch from the Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong, saying that a period of six months had been fixed for the removal of the telegraph
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Mr. Thomson to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hong Kong, February 18, 1904. WITH reference to your letter of the 8th instant inclosing a translation of a note received from the Director-General of Telegraphs regarding the removal of the Sham-shui-po blockhouse, I am directed to request you to be so good as to inform his Excellency that this Government cannot consent to allow the blockhouse, poles, and telegraph lines therein mentioned to remain where they are at present unless they are taken over by the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company. The circumstances of the new territory are not analogous to those of European Concessions in the Treaty ports of China, inasmuch as for the period of the ninety-nine years' lease the new territory