[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[June 30.]
CO
SECTION 1.
23921
[25417]
(No. 245.) Sir,
T-No. 1.
dward
22
kkceived June 30.)
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey = (R
Peking, June 13, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith an interesting despatch from His Majesty's consul at Changsha, describing the resentment caused in the province of Hunan by the news that trunk railways are to be brought under the control of the Central Government.
The agitation was fanned by the usual fabrications, and the signature of the Hukuang Railway Loan Agreement was utilised to revive the belief that the partition of China among foreign nations was imminent. The governor, who at first showed signs of weakness in face of the alarming attitude of the Hunanese gentry and students, was sharply reminded of his responsibilities by the issue of an Imperial ediet, and the agitation has now calmed down. The commander-in-chief has detailed His Majesty's ship "Nightingale" to remain at Changsha for the present at my request.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul Giles to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 22.) Sir,
Changsha, June 2, 1911. IN extension of my telegrams Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10, of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 20th May respectively, I have the honour to submit a report on the recent agitation in Changsha directed against the railway policy of the Central Government, as expressed in the Imperial edicts recently issued.
On the 12th May the "Changsha Jih Pao" published the Imperial decree of the 9th May, withdrawing the Hankow-Canton trunk line among others from private control, at the same time directing that the work should be carried on while arrange- ments were being made for handing over the railway to the Central Government. The following day, the 13th May, a number of the gentry and the students held a private conclave, at which the attendance amounted to a couple of hundred, to decide upon a line of action.
The most prominent individuals at the meeting were Yü Chao-k'ang, director- general of the Hunan Railway Company; Li Ta-chang, one of the joint presidents of the Hunan Railway Co-operative Association; Lung-chang, Chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce; and Chou Kuang-hsün, a member of the Provincial Assembly.
It was stated at this meeting that the governor, having been approached, had consented to memorialise the Throne on their behalf, requesting that the control of the line be restored to the province; while the question of pushing on the construc- tion of the line with the utmost possible speed was decided on. A circular was also issued in the joint names of the Provincial Assembly, the General Chamber of Commerce, the Educational Association, the Hankow-Canton Railway Company, and the Hunan Railway Co-operative Association, besides a number of local Changsha bodies. This circular, which was printed in the form of a hand-bill and distributed broadcast, asserted that by the contraction of a foreign loan for the construction of the railway, the lives and the property of the entire population of Hunan had been handed over to the foreigner, and that untold disaster would result unless the agree- ment were properly rescinded. The people were therefore summoned to a mass meeting to be held in the Educational Hall on the 14th May, to register an emphatic protest against the policy of the Government, and to assert their intention of recovering control of the line.
[2076 gg-1]
B
154