This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.j
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[9074]
C.O. 12195
43
[March 8.]
RECR REG 8 APR 00
SECTION 2.
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received March 8.)
(No. 69.) Sir,
Peking, February 13, 1909. IN continuation of my despatch No. 57, of the 3rd February, I have the honour to state that Mr. Bland sent me the inclosed unsatisfactory reply, dated the 1st February, of his Excellency Liang Shih-yi to the complaints regarding the handling of the loan funds of the Shanghae-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway, and soon afterwards informed me that the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank representative at Shanghae was averse from instructing Mr. Hillier to join in the proposed representation to the Board of Communi- cations, on the ground that it was no part of the Bank's duty to do this in the circum-
stances.
Mr. Bland made a strong case for immediate intervention, which it seemed to me I could not ignore, especially in view of the recent dismissal of the President of the Board of Communications as the result of charges of malversation, and I accordingly addressed a note to Prince Ch'ing on the 9th February, copy of which is inclosed for your information, In this I have summarized shortly the acts protested against by Mr. Bland, and in the interests of an honest and economical construction of the railways, I have asked for a full explanation of this from the Board of Communi- cations.
1 may add that since my note to Prince Ching was written, 1 have had an oppor- tunity of discussing the affairs of the Shanghae-Ningpo Railway with Mr. A. II. Barry, who has recently inspected this line. Mr. Barry confirms, I regret to say, in every respect the engineering defects iu the portion of the line which has been constructed by the Kiangsu Bureau, and the unsatisfactory nature of the position which prevails with regard to the undertaking generally.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN,
(Translation.) Sir,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Liang Shih-yi to Mr. Bland.
February 1, 1909.
I BEG to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 20th January, with reference to requisitions on account of the Shanghae-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway, wherein you state that the provision requiring that all requisitions shall be accompanied by certificates stating the section of the line and the nature and cost of the work to be You further state that paid for, does not appear to have been complied with. the funds must remain on deposit with the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank until required for railway purposes,
The successive requisitions by the Board in the past have all been drawn to meet requirements of railway work, and separate statements of particulars were furnished. The form of these statements corresponded with requisition certificates in the case of the Tien-tsin-Pukow Railway, and the Shanghac Branch of the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank has in all cases accepted the requisitions without protest. Further, the phrase "section of the line and nature of the work to be paid for," does not occur in the Loan Agreement. The sudden proposal to adopt the procedure stated in your letter under acknowledgment, suggests a disposition to create difficulties, and shows a lack of the confidence that should exist on both sides. In order to conform with the Agreement, the form of the certificate should remain as in the past
Your letter goes on to state: "From the information at my disposal it appears that a total amount of about 935,000%, has already been transferred to Shanghae, the balance of loan funds remaining in England available for purchase of materials, &c., being therefore about 355,0007.
[2193 h-2]
FikE! "," ར " -