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be paid within six months after the date of the payment of the above stated 300,0007. The said payments shall be made to a bank designated by the Yuchuanpu.
Art. 4. The advance of money together with all interest in respect thereof shall be satisfied and extinguished by the payment by the Yuchuanpu to the companies of a series of equal half-yearly instalments of 21,0181. each. The first of these half- yearly instalments shall be paid on the 30th June, 1912, corresponding with the 16th day of the 5th moon of the 4th year of Hsuan Tung and the last of the half-yearly instalments shall be paid on or before the 31st December, 1930. All payments shall be made in sterling or its equivalent through a bank designated by the companies either in London or at Shanghai. Should from any unforeseen circumstances, of whatsoever nature, the Yuchuanpu find itself unable to make the stipulated payment on the date agreed upon, the companies shall be paid interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the amount of the outstanding account from the date on which payment was due and until the actual date of payment. It being understood that in case of non-payment or short payment the companies ruay deduct any amount due under this agreement from money due from the companies to the Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration under the existing agreements or contracts between the said admini- stration and the companies or either of them.
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and
Art. 5. The Imperial Government of China hereby guarantees the repayment of the 500,0001, and the payment of interest thereon in accordance with the stipulations contained in article 4, and as security for the money advanced hereby grants to the companies a preferential lien on China's revenue from through traffic "limitroph traffic," subject always to the lien held by the companies under any agreement or agreements in force for the time being between the Imperial Chinese Telegraph administration and the companies. The above revenues are declared free from all other loans, mortgages, or charges.
By the aforesaid "through traffic " is understood traffic as defined in the sixth recital of the agreement dated the 26th July, 1904, between the Imperial Chinese Telegraph administration and the companies and by the aforesaid "limitroph traffic" is under- stood traffic as defined by article 1 of the Telegraph Convention dated the 13th May, 1897, between the Imperial Chinese Telegraph administration and the Great Northern Telegraph Company (Limited), of Denmark, with the additional traffic as mentioned in article 7 of the agreement dated the 22nd October, 1902, between the same parties.
Art. 6. No loan or mortgage shall be charged upon the security named above until this present advance of money by the companies is redeemed, and neither the Yuchuanpu nor the Imperial Chinese Telegraph administration shall make any arrangements or agreement or take any other step during the term of this present agreement that would in any way diminish China's share of the revenue from the aforenamed "through traffic and limitroph traffic."
Art. 7 This agreement is signed under authority of an Imperial edict dated the Sth day of the 3rd moon of the 3rd year of Hsuan Tung, which has been officially communicated to the Ministers of Great Britain, Russia, and Denmark in Peking by the Wai-wu Pu.
In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorised to this effect, have signed the present agreement,
Done in Peking in the English language and in the Chinese language.
Six expeditions duly compared and found to be in agreement, of which one shall be retained by the Yuchuanpu, one by the Wai-wn Pu, one by the British Minister, one by the Russian and Danish Minister, and one by each of the companies have been sigued in each of these languages on the 10th day of April, 1911, corresponding with the 12th day of the 3rd moon of the 3rd year of the reign of Hsuan Tung.
For the Imperial Chinese Board of Communications :
CHOW WAN PANG, appointed with Imperial approval Director-General of the Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration, and being
an expectant Taotai with the brevet rank of the Second Class.
For the Eastern Extension Australasia and China
Telegraph Company (Limited) :
A. B. SKOTTOWE, Acting Manager in China.
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For the Great Northern Telegraph Company (Limited),
of Denmark :
J. J. BAHNSON
and Japan
Manager
in China
(Seal of the Best of Communic
AKITO MAI
Communications.)
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Prince Ch'ing to Sir J. Jordan.
(Translation.) Sír,
Peking, April 9, 1911. THE Board of Communications have addressed a despatch to my board to the effect that they had jointly memorialised the throne respecting a proposal to conclude an agree- ment under which the Eastern and the Great Northern Telegraph Companies advanced certain telegraph revenues, and that ou the 6th April the Imperial decree had been received in the following terms :--
"Let it be as proposed."
I have the honour to address this note for your Excellency's information, and I beg that you will notify the company accordingly.
I avail, &c.
Prince CHING.
329