297
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TILTUC.O. 882
| | | | | | |
6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
246
your colleagues in the British and Chinese Corporation, so that you may inform Mr. Simon as soon as possible that the British and Chinese Corporation have definitely accepted the project, and that they agree to put it in hand as soon as the approval of the English Foreign and Colonial Offices has been received. It is important that you should follow this course in order to bind the French group and to prevent their backing out should anything fresh supervene.
Mr. Simon also asked me to ask you whether you do not think it advisable for him to cable, through the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the French Consul- General at Hong Kong, instructing him to see Sir Matthew Nathan on the subject. In my opinion, the best plan would be for you to wire the manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation at Hong Kong, asking him to explain fully to Sir Matthew Nathan the proposed scheme, and to lay special stress during his interview with the Governor of Hong Kong on the fact that in reality the Company which will obtain the concession of the Hankow-Canton Railway will be British, with a British majority, seeing that the Chairman will always be a British subject, and that he will have a casting vote.
I wish to repeat once again, my dear Mr. Addis, that it is of the most pressing moment to bind the French group absolutely, and I think that the course I have mapped out above is an infallible means of attaining that end.
DEAR MONSIEUR Francqui,
Yours, &c.,
E. FRANCQUI
December 15, 1905.
I HAVE to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, and I now await the further letter from Mr. Simon to which you refer.
In the meantime, to avoid misunderstanding, I would take this opportunity of pointing out that your analysis of the percentage of allotment of shares is slightly inaccurate. The apportionment should be as follows:-
DEAR MR. ADDIS,
Brussels, December 16, 1905. I SAW yesterday, in Paris, M. Simon, who told me that he now had the French Government's approval, and that he was to write you to-day, or, at the latest, Monday next.
On the other hand, I have received your letter, dated the 15th instant, which I communicated to M. Simon, but without waiting for his answer I wish to draw your attention to the fact that, in the same way as for the Chinese Central Railways business, the British group will have to retrocede to the Belgian group the profit of 55 deferred shares, which the British group will hold in their own name, and the French group 45 shares, which will also be inscribed in their name.
Awaiting the favour of a reply,
DEAR MONSIEUR FRANCQUI,
I remain, &c.,
E. FRANCQUI.
31, Lombard Street, London, E.C.,
December 20, 1905.
I AM in receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, in which, assuming that the agreement referred to in my letter to M. Simon, of the 5th December, should ever become an accomplished fact, you intimate that the British group would have to retrocede to the Belgian group the profit on 55 of their deferred shares.
In reply I have to inform you that your letter appears to be based upon an entire misunderstanding of the position. The negotiations with M. Simon were on the basis of the Chinese Central Railways Agreement, but were confined solely to the British and French groups. Any Belgian participation, therefore, that the French group desire to concede concerns only their interest, and must be made out of their share, the British interest remaining distinctly one-half, and as a British registered Company the Chairman is to be a British subject appointed by the British group, and to possess a casting vote.
British group French group Belgian group
47,500 Ord. Shares 42,500 Ord. Shares
10,000 Ord. Shares
100,000
550 Def. Shares 450 Def. Shares
102,500 votes.
87,500 votes.
10,000 votes.
1,000
200,000
SIR,
Yours, &c.,
C. S. ADDIS.
DEAR SIR,
Brussels, December 14, 1905.
I HAVE just received a letter from M. Simon. He has seen Monsieur Rouvier, who appeared very pleased with the communication M. Simon made him, and who will give a definite answer within a short time. It is then only that M. Simon will be able to write you, but I beg to let you know, in the meantime, that your proposals have been accepted by everybody, and that what remains to be done is a mere formality.
Mr. Addis,
London.
Dear Mr. Campbell,
Yours, &c.,
E. FRANCQUI
The British and Chinese Corporation, Limited,
3, Lombard Street, London, December 20, 1905. Hankow-Canton Railway.
WILL you kindly add the enclosed to the copy correspondence which I left with you yesterday between Mr. Addis and M. Simon, and M. Francqui.
Yours, &c.,
W. KESWICK.
(910.)
Yours, &c.,
C. S. ADDIS.
The British and Chinese Corporation, Limited,
3, Lombard Street, London, E.C., January 5, 1906, Hankow-Canton Railway.
WE beg leave to hand you copies of further letters which have passed between M. Simon and Mr. Addis, of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and to request that you will add them to the correspondence, of which we have recently furnished you with copies.
We are, &c.,
THE BRITISH AND CHINESE CORPORATION, LIMITED,
W. KESWICK,
Chairman.
Francis A. Campbell, Esq., C.B.,
Foreign Office.
Dear Mr. ADDIS,
15, Rue Laffitte, Paris, January 1, 1906.
I AM now in situation to answer your letters of the 5th and 21st December. I had several interviews with our Foreign Office about the matter of the Hankow Canton Railway. Quite recently I was informed that Mr. Cambon had been instructed to ascertain with Sir Edward Grey if he was disposed to follow on the matter in question the same line as his predecessor, Lord Lansdowne.
From the visit paid by our Ambassador it appeared that it was really so, and that both your Foreign and Colonial Offices were disposed to approve of the co-operation, on equal terms, of the French group with the British and Chinese Corporation, being well understood that the British interest would be one-half, the Company a British registered one, and the Chairman a British subject appointed by the British group and possessing a casting vote.
Your Colonial Office, however, appeared having reserved his final decision until the assent of the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Matthew Nathan, had been obtained. With respect to this, I suppose you did not fail to write to your Hong Kong branch, in order that they might be able to fully explain the matter to Sir Matthew Nathan.
18985
P