PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
EPEC.O. 882
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
}
308
(CLII.)
HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking, to His Britannic Majesty's
CONSUL-GENERAL, Canton.
(Dated December 27, 1905.)
Your telegram, No. 16. I have asked the Wai Wu Pu to instruct the Viceroy that he must conduct the negotiations in accordance with the rules of international business.
Your despatch, No. 63. Please inform the Viceroy that this method of treating a solemn contract is wholly inadmissible, and that if it is persisted in I shall be obliged to recommend His Majesty's Government to take serious notice of it. The Governor of Hong Kong complains of the Viceroy's unfriendly attitude, and it is a matter of common notoriety that His Excellency's treatment of political agita- tions against foreigners is, to say the least of it, sympathetic. In this matter of the Canton-Kowloon Railway there is practically no doubt that he encourages, and, perhaps, leads, the local agitation which is only part of the general antagonism throughout China against foreign enterprizes; and he cannot be too strongly warned that such a course is highly dangerous, and that it is 'his duty in the interests of China to check such movements, and not to encourage them.
You should make the Viceroy thoroughly understand that the unreasonable and hostile attitude of Chinese Authorities like himself towards British enterprizes has already created considerable attention in Great Britain.
Please repeat this telegram to the Governor of Hong Kong.-SATOW.
Enclosure 2 in No. 202.
CANTON-Kowloon Railway.
MINUTES OF FIRST MEETING, held at His Britannic Majesty's Consulate-General, Canton, on Monday, 18th December, 1905, between the Viceroy of Canton's Deputies, and the Representative of the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited.
Present: Messrs. Wei, Wen and Kung, representing the Viceroy of Canton, and Mr. C. H. Ross, representing the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited. Mr. Tebbitt, His Britannic Majesty's Vice-Consul, being also present.
After the customary compliments, Mr. Wen explained that as the Viceroy's Deputies were ignorant of the details of the proposals to be made, all that could be done at this meeting would be to receive the proposals of the Corporation after studying which the Deputies could explain them to the Viceroy and take his instructions thereon.
Mr. Ross then presented the Deputies with copies in English of the proposed Loan Agreement and Schedule, also with a Chinese translation of those documents. In presenting these, Mr. Rose explained that they were drafted in the names of Sheng Kungpao and the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration, but as negotia- tions were now transferred to Canton, the necessary alterations in names could be made if the Deputies would indicate the Viceroy's wishes in the matter. The Chinese translation, Mr. Ross explained, had been prepared by a Chinese Official in Tientsin, and while it was believed to be a faithful translation of the original, he could not guarantee its accuracy, and the Deputies would, therefore, please under- stand that the English text alone described the Corporation's proposals.
Mr. Ross then formally notified the Deputies that he was prepared to commence negotiations and awaited their convenience.
Mr. Wen, in reply, said that they could not then discuss details, but would read the proposed agreement to the Viceroy that night, and bring his reply, in writing, the following day at 2.30 p.m.
309
CANTON-KOWLOON RAILWAY.
MINUTES OF SECOND MEETING, held at His Britannic Majesty's Consulate-General, Canton, on Tuesday, 19th December, 1905, between the Viceroy of Canton's Deputies and the Representative of the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited.
Present: Messrs. Wei, Wen and Kung, representing the Viceroy of Canton, and Mr. C. H. Ross, representing the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited. Mr. Tebbitt, His Britannic Majesty's Vice-Consul, being also present.
Mr. Won, on behalf of his colleagues, said, they had explained the Corporation's proposals to the Viceroy (though on account of the delicate state of His Excellency's health, a bare outline only of the proposed Agreement had been submitted), and had been instructed to reply that since the Preliminary Agreement had been signed, circumstances had changed, and particularly a marked change had come over the spirit of the people, who now desired to themselves build this railway, and the iceroy was not prepared to oppose this feeling which had been expressed in un- mistakeable tones by the local gentry.
In the Viceroy's opinion, the Preliminary Agreement was a non-binding docu- ment, which, although authorised by the Tsung-Li-Yamen, had not formally received the Emperor's sanction, and, moreover, Clause 5 of this Agreement seemed specially to provide for a state of affairs such as now existed.
Mr. Ross, replying to the foregoing remarks, told the Deputies that if they would refer to their archives, date, he believed, about the end of the year 1898, they would discover correspondence which passed between Sheng Kungpao and the then Viceroy of Canton, on the subject of this railway. In the letters referred to (copies of which Mr. Ross had read) Sheng explained the instructions he had received from the Throne, quoting them in full with the Imperial rescript. Under such circumstances it was, therefore, quite incorrect to state that the matter had not received the Emperor's sanction. (Mr. Tebbitt here stated that the date of the Imperial Edict in question was about October, 1898.)
The Deputies professed surprise to learn of the existence of this correspondence, and said they would examine the Viceroy's records about the date mentioned.
Mr. Ross said, with reference to Clause 5 of the Preliminary Agreement, he had personally drafted this Clause in 1899 at Shanghai; the local difficulties then apprehended were interference with survey parties, fengshui prejudices, and trouble over the removal of graves, &c., for all of which Sheng said the Viceroy of Canton would, if necessary, make arrangements. His Excellency, however, was apparently disinclined to make arrangements to meet local difficulties, and in whatever sense this Clause might be read, such an attitude could neither be regarded as the spirit nor the letter of the clause in question.
Mr. Wen, continuing his remarks, said that while they did not intend that the cancellation of the Agreement should entail any monetary compensation as was exacted by the Americans over the Yueh-Han line, the Viceroy understood that the Corporation had been put to some expense over a survey of the proposed route of the line, and His Excellency was willing to refund such outlay, but as the engineer employed by the Corporation had been used for other work besides the Canton- Kowloon Survey, only the actual proportion of his expenses chargeable to this railway would be paid.
Mr. Ross said any proposals of this nature which the Viceroy wished to make should be made in writing to the Consul-General, as he was not authorized to discuss such suggestions.
He was present to discuss the terms of a loan agreement, and wished to be informed if the Viceroy's Deputies were or were not prepared to proceed with such discussion.
Mr. Wen replied that the Viceroy would not discuss any terms at all, the Pre- liminary Agreement must be cancelled, and the line would be built by the Chinese themselves.
Mr. Ross asked if he was to understand that the Viceroy absolutely declined to entertain or discuss the Corporation's proposals, and all three Deputies assenting, they were requested and agreed to officially write to the Consul General to this effect.
Mr. Wei (who, as a metropolitan official, was the senior of the Deputies) then remarked, that in his opinion it was quite impossible for foreigners to exercise