[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
23539
[June 24.]
RECO REG$18 JUL II
SECTION 1.
No. 1.
[24432]
(No. 238.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 24.)
Peking, June 5, 1911. THE policy of the State ownership of railways, to which the Government are now definitely committed, has formed the subject of three recent edicts, copies of which are enclosed herewith.
The first deals with the province of Szechuan, and orders the abolition of the system under which the farmers are obliged to make contributions towards railway construction based upon the assessed value of their holdings. The money, it is stated, has been extorted from the people by fraud, and years have passed without anything having been done in the way of railway construction. The collection of these so-called rent shares is to cease, and the new director-general of railways is instructed to ascertain the amount already collected, and submit a report to the Throne for such action as the circumstances may appear to justify.
The second decree refers to Hunan, and is based upon a memorial in which a metropolitan official, acting doubtless under orders, had advocated that the levy of special taxes for railway construction in that province should cease. After expressing its sympathy with the sufferings of the people in terms suited to the popular ear, the Throne orders the abolition of all these unauthorised levies, and instructs Tuan Fang to have the whole question fully investigated.
The third and last decree administers a sharp rebuke to the Governor of Hunan, who had ventured to submit a petition from the provincial Assembly, asking permission to construct their own railways without the aid of foreign capital. The attitude of the provincial Assembly is construed as in the nature of a menace, and the governor is taken severely to task for having encouraged it.
His Excellency Tuan Fang, who leaves Peking in a few days, will take up his residence at Wuchang, whence he will direct the railway operations in Hunan and Hupei. He counts upon the active support of his kinsman, Jui Cheng, the viceroy of the two provinces, who also resides in Wuchang, and speaks with confidence of having through railway communication with Hong Kong established in three years.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Extract from the "Gazette" of May 22, 1911.
IMPERIAL EDICT.
SOME time ago we issued an edict, commanding that all trunk lines of railway should revert to Government control, and appointing Tuan Fang director-general of the Canton-Hankow and Szechuan-Hankow Railways, with the rank of expectant vice-president of a board. We ordered him to proceed to his post with all speed, and carry out his duties circumspectly. The object of this resolute action on the part of the Throne was to centralise the control of the railways, and thereby relieve to some extent the financial embarrassment of the people. When the Szechuan Railway was commenced the officials and gentry of the province decided to enforce subscription to shares in proportion to the rent value of property held. Though it was nominally a commercial enterprise, the money has actually been collected from the people by fraud, and, in spite of the lapse of several years, the railway has not yet been completed. Besides, this last year there was a very large deficiency in the funds, so that the malpractices on that line are very numerous. Under these circumstances it is clear that the public have been put to much trouble without any considerable benefit to the railway. Subsequently Hunan province adopted the same system of taking up rent shares, though its financial condition is worse even than that of Szechuan. At the
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