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to secure more immediate support in regard to Suchow. Personally I agree with the Governor of Hong Kong's view, and venture to submit that, if an immediate deadlock in negotiations here is to be avoided, the Corporation should be informed that they must abandon the attitude shown in enclosure 7. In the present state of popular and official opinion on railway questions, I feel sure that nothing short of force will induce the Chinese Government to accept the Corporation's draft of February 16th."
CARNEGIE.
XL.
HIS BRITANNIC Majesty's ChargÉ D'AFFAIRES, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (July 31, 1906.)
TELEGRAM.
(Paraphrase.)
No. 19. Your telegram, dated April 23rd. When do you propose to open negotiations for a working agreement with the Viceroy? Confidential. This morning at an interview B seemed less uncompromising. If his negotiations here were made to depend on the conclusion of yours he anticipated difficulty, and sug- gested that a clause in his agreement making the issue of the loan contingent on a satisfactory working agreement would be sufficient for your purpose.
CARNEGIE.
XLI.
GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY's Chargé d'AffAIRES, Peking.
(August 1, 1906.)
TELEGRAM.
(Paraphrase.)
Your telegram No. 19. On May 4th the Consul-General reported the Chinese authorities to be unwilling to go into any details of working arrangements until the loan agreement should be settled. I suggest your informing the Wai-wu-pu that, in the Canton-Kowloon Final Agreement, any departure from the terms of that for Shanghai-Nanking will only be accepted if a satisfactory working agreement is concluded with this Government, and that you should ask the Chinese negotiators, who now include the representative of the Viceroy, if they will accept the draft Working Agreement, in print, of February 16th, subject only to modifications involved by modifications in Loan Agreement. If a clause were inserted in Loan Agreement as suggested by Bland, I fear it would lead to every obstacle being put in the way of the completion of the Working Agreement, and thus to the indefinite postponement of the undertaking to which, in view of his Whampoa scheme, the Canton Viceroy would not be averse.
XLII.
NATHAN.
HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S Chargé d'AffairES, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (August 2, 1906.) TELEGRAM.
(Paraphrase.)
Your telegram of yesterday. I fear procedure you suggest would create a dead- lock. The Chinese are only too well aware that the interests of the Hong Kong Government and of the Corporation are not identical, and they will lose no oppor- tunity of playing one off against the other with a view to causing delay. If a fairly free hand is not given to Bland his chances of concluding a loan agreement in reason- able time are poor. I could inform the Wai-wu-pu as you suggest, but they would either refuse to agree or remain silent, and if Bland's negotiations failed he could fairly use the communication as an excuse for his failure. To ask the Chinese negotiators to accept the February draft Working Agreement in principle would be
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useless if, as seems probable, the Loan Agreement must be radically different from the February draft. Cannot a new draft Working Agreement be prepared and discussed with the Viceroy when the bases of the Loan Agreement are settled here. CARNEGIE.
XLIII.
GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES, Peking. (August 3, 1906.) TELEGRAM.
(Paraphrase.)
Your telegram No. 20. I still am of opinion that the Wai-wu-pu should be informed that any departure in the Canton-Kowloon Final Loan Agreement from the terms of that for the Shanghai-Nanking Railway will only be accepted if a satisfactory working agreement is first concluded with this Government; but, if you consider it desirable, the terms of the working agreement may be left for discussion until the bases of the loan agreement have been arranged. If modified loan agree- ment is finally signed without settlement of working agreement, we shall not be able to claim this settlement in return for relaxing the conditions by which China is bound under the Preliminary Loan Agreement.
NATHAN.
33613
No. 283.
GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to THE EARL OF ELGIN.
(Received 9.10 a.m., September 11, 1908.)
TELEGRAM.
[Answered by No. 296.]
Am not satisfied with progress made with construction of railway since
1st April. Should be glad to know whether inspection will be made by Consulting Engineers this year,
33764
No. 284.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received September 13, 1906.)
[Copy of enclosure to Governor, September 25, 1906. Secret. L.F.] [Answered by No. 288.]
(Confidential.)
The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and is directed by the Secretary of State to transmit the accompanying copy of a telegram from Mr. Carnegie, Peking.
Foreign Office,
September 12 1906.
(Confidential.) (No. 165.)
Enclosure in No. 284.
Mr. CARNEGIE to Sir EDWARD GREY.
(Received September 6, 2.45 p.m.)
Peking, September 6, 1906, 3.40 p.m.
My telegram, No. 162 (of 5th September]: Canton-Kowloon. Three meetings held 23rd August, 29th August, 3rd September. From minutes
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