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principals were not disclosed, and Mr. 14 informed
me that, unless they were, and he was satisfied as
to their standing, he would, although authorised
by the Ministry of Finance to sign, break off
I told him that frankly I did not
consider that Mr. Milkie would be able to raise
negotiations,
money on the terms, and that I could not, in any
case, endorse an agreement of the kind without re-
ference to you. I then discussed with him, as an
alternative, the scheme of Sir henry May and myself,
pointing out the absolute necessity of foreign
supervision, but also calling attention to the fact
that it would be for the lenders 1.8. Chinese to
own
say to what extent they wished it to be exercised.
The imposition thereof would not be the same as a
demand made by foreign bondholders, it would be a
quite intelligible demand by Chinese, in their on
interests, previous domestic loans having notorious –
ly not commanded the confidence of the public. I
added that for purposes of face, however, they
would
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