53
<Sexpara =9 W des qu.3.50€ Palling, in Barp on
72710
C in 2 on 72710
x para 3 of 16on
72710 × Band 60-737,0
His Majesty's Minister pointed out also
the difficulty of pressing such claims in view of
the present financial position of the Chinese
Railways and drew attention to the fact that in
any case the Working Agreement was never formally
ratified on the Chinese.side.
(The Governor of Hong Kong, acting
apparently on a suggestion contained in a telegram
from the Secretary of State, also sent a despatch.
to His Majesty's Consul General at Canton (dated
the 2nd January, 1930 requesting him bring to
the notice of the Canton Government the fact that
claims in respect of suspension of traffic and
demurrage (as regards which see below) up to the
end of 1928 filed against the Chinese management
of the Railway, to the total amount of $997,596.21
were still outstanding, with a further $11,438.16
for the period between 1st January and 13th December
1929. The despatch was communicated by His
Majesty's Consul General to the Provincial Govern-
ment without comment.)
*
The Foreign Office agreed generally with
Sir M.Lampson's views and felt that if any claim
on the part of the British Section of the Canton-
Kowloon Railway for compensation in respect of
the suspension of traffic lay at all it could
only lie against the Chinese Government and,
therefore, that the British Section would in no
circumstances be justified in withholding the
amounts due in respect of current operations to
the Chinese Section of the railway.
They
considered