209
in continuation of our letter of the 20th of September, that the sum of £400,000 was duly paid by us, on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong, on the 6th instant, to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank to be applied towards the repayment of the loan obtained by the Viceroy of Wuchang from the branch of the Bank at Hankow. The equivalent in dollars of the sum of £700,000 was also paid on the same day, on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong, to the Chinese Minister at New York, and a receipt was taken from him in accordance with the terms stated in the telegram from the Governor of Hong Kong received at the Colonial Office on the 3rd of October.t
2. A slight difficulty arose in telegraphing the form of receipt out to New York as our Agents did not possess a code suitable for the purpose, and it seemed undesirable that the message should go in clear. We, therefore, approached the Foreign Office privately, and Mr. Campbell kindly consented to telegraph the form of receipt to the Consul-General at New York to be communicated by him to our Agents there.
3. We are not at present able to state what the transmission of the £700,000 will have cost to the Government of Hong Kong, as, with the view of saving cost in exchange, the greater part of the amount was transferred to New York in antici- pation of the due date, and these advances will, of course, carry bank rate of interest. There will also be the charge of our agents, viz., 1/16 of 1 per cent. for carrying through the transaction. On the other hand there will be a set off of the amount of interest earned on the money moved to New York in anticipation of the due date. We are not aware of the circumstances in which the Government of Hong Kong agreed to pay the money in New York, but it has necessarily been a more costly operation than if the agreement had been that the Chinese Minister should draw upon us for the amount, the effect of which would have been to throw the cost of the exchange operations on the Chinese Minister or his nominee.
4. The Secretary of State will probably think it desirable to telegraph to the Governor of Hong Kong that the two payments were duly effected on the 6th October, but it may be better not to say anything at present as to the cost of the operation.
5. Now that the payments have been made I beg to refer to our letter of the 4th of July, and to say that it is essential that the necessary legislative provision to enable the Government of Hong Kong to raise the money which is required to repay us the advances which we have made should be passed at the earliest possible moment. The money which we have advanced has been provided out of resources temporarily at our command, and this money must be replaced as soon as the Colonies to which it belongs require it.
36010
No. 146.
I have, &c.,
E. E. BLAKE.
36884
SIR,
No. 147.
CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received October 17, 1905.)
[Answered by Nos. 150 and 160.]
Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W., October 16, 1905. Hong Kong—£1,100,000 Loan.
In the newspapers of the 14th instant the following Reuter's telegram appears:→→→
"Hong Kong, October 13. "The Government is introducing an Ordinance in Council raising a loan of £2,000,000 for the Kowloon Railway and other railway purposes.”
2. In the absence of fuller particulars it is difficult to advise the Secretary of State satisfactorily in the matter. I beg, however, to point out that there would appear to be strong objections to including in one Ordinance the loan which has been made to the Viceroy of Wuchang and that which will have to be raised for the con- struction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. In the former case the agreement entered into between the Viceroy and the Government of Hong Kong provides that the loan shall be repayable by ten annual equal contributions and that it may, if the Viceroy so desires, be paid off altogether after the expiration of five years. It is clear, therefore, that this loan should be raised in the form of debentures and that the conditions of the issue should be particularised.
3. In the case, however, of the loan which will hereafter have to be raised for the construction of the Kowloon Railway it will be desirable that it should be raised in the form of stock, under the provisions of the Hong Kong General Loan and Inscribed Stock Ordinance, No. 1 of 1893, and that the issue, when made, should be in the form of 34 inscribed stock, of which a lien of £341,800 already exists, and to which the new issue should be added. The present price of this stock, of which the currency is 1918-43, is 98 to 100 per cent.
4. I beg, therefore, to suggest that a telegram to the effect of this letter should be sent at once to the Governor of Hong Kong, and that it should be pointed out to him that while it is necessary that provision should be made as soon as possible for the loan to the Chinese Viceroy, there is no need for hurry in the case of the Kowloon- Canton Railway Loan.
5. We should be glad also if it could be intimated to the Governor that in any Ordinance providing for the raising by means of debentures of the loan made to the Chinese Viceroy, it should be specified that the debentures, when issued, may be signed by any one of the Crown Agents instead of, as in previous Hong Kong, Deben- ture Ordinances, by any two of them. The purely mechanical labour of signing a great number of bonds is very great, and no greater security is afforded by two signatures than by one.
I have, &c.,
E. E. BLAKE.
MR. LYTTELTON to GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN.
(Sent 11.15 a.m., October 11, 1905.)
TELEGRAM.
[Copy to Foreign Office. October 12, 1905. Secret. L.F.]
[Answered by CXII. in No. 169,]
Payments of £400,000 and £700,000 duly made October 6. Crown Agents press for immediate legislation to authorize raising loan for re-payment of this advance. Necessary steps should be taken at once.
37732
SIR,
(Secret.)
No. 148.
GOVERNOR SR M. NATHAN to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received October 23, 1905.)
[Answered by IF.F. transmitting copies of Nos. 158 and 165.]
Government House, Hong Kong, September 22, 1905.
IN continuation of my secret despatch of the 8th instant, I have the honour to enclose, for your information and record. a paraphrase of further telegraphic correspondence with yourself, Hie Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking, and His Britannio Majesty's Consul-General at Hankow on the subject of a proposed loan
• No. 135.
↑ No. XCII, in No. 161.
‡ No. 113.
18885
• No. 144.
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLC.O. 882
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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