PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference:
THETIC.O. 882
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
SIR,
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Enclosure 2 in No. 241.
CONSUL-GENERAL to VICEROY.
March 13, 1906. WITH reference to the question of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, I have received instructions from His Majesty's Minister to request Your Excellency to resume negotiations with the Corporation. His Majesty's Minister informs me that on the 23rd of February the Wai-Wu-Pu communicated with Your Excellency_by telegraph requesting you to appoint delegates. His Majesty's Minister adds that on the 9th of March, during a personal interview, he was assured by the Wai-Wu- Pu, that they would again telegraph to Your Excellency urging the resumption of negotiations and the appointment of delegates for that purpose. His Majesty's Minister fails to understand Your Excellency's inaction and delay, and I am directed to point out to Your Excellency that further neglect on your part to arrange matters, as desired by the Wai-Wu-Pu, will be regarded as unfriendly and obstructive— an attitude which His Majesty's Minister cannot overlook, and he will consequently, be obliged to lay the whole case before His Majesty's Government, submitting a request that instructions be sent to His Majesty's Consul-General at Canton to suspend relations with Your Excellency. I accordingly beg to draw Your Excel- lency's attention to the importance of this matter and to appeal to you to give proof of your friendly sentiments by appointing delegates at an early date to arrange matters on a satisfactory footing.
(Translation.)
SIR,
I avail, &c.,
JAMES SCOTT,
Consul-General.
Enclosure 3 in No, 241.
VICEROY to CONBUL-GENERAL.
I AM duly in receipt of your letter of the 13th instant on the subject of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, stating that you have received instructions from His Majesty's Minister by telegraph to request me to appoint delegates at an early date to discuss and arrange matters. Sometime ago I sent delegates to meet you and Mr. Ross, the representative of the Corporation. Subsequently, I received a telegram from the Wai-Wu-Pu pointing out that the Shanghai-Nanking was a long line, requiring large funds, whereas in the Canton-Kowloon Railway the con- ditions were quite different, the line being short and requiring but small outlay. Accordingly the general scope for the construction of this railway ought to be decided in the first instance and avoid future useless discussion.
Under these circumstances, I have made two suggestions, which I have tele- graphed to the Wai-Wu-Pu, to be communicated to His Majesty's Minister, for his consideration:-
(1) To borrow funds from the British Corporation, engage English engineers, and China to construct the railway herself. The line is to be the security, and if thereafter there should be default in the payment of principal or interest, then the British Corporation is to be free to control the accounts of the railway.
(2) The railway to be constructed by funds raised in the Canton Province itself, but all material required for the railway, apart from what China herself possesses, to be obtained through the Corporation, from England, price and quality to correspond with those of other countries.
As regards these two proposals, I have as yet received no telegraphic reply from the Wai-Wu-Pu as to whether they have been laid before His Majesty's Minister or not and which one they have arranged to accept.
As for your request to appoint delegates to enter into negotiations, I should be obliged if you would indicate to me which proposal you accept, then I will direct the foreign deputies, Wei, Wen, and Kung to meet you and the representatives of the Corporation to discuss the matter and arrive at a settlement.
The deputies, Wei, Wen, and Kung, on previous occasions, when they had interviews with you at the Consulate, always alluded to the matter of this railway,
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and when you told them it might follow the lines of the Tien-tsin-Shanhaikuan Railway, I expressed my gratification thereat and I accordingly telegraphed to Viceroy Yuan, for a copy of the regulations to facilitate negotiations. I, on my part, am fully prepared to enter into negotiations, and you should have clearly recognised that I was always willing to do so. Minister declares I have always been obstructive and hostile and proposes to report When, however, His Majesty's to His Majesty's Government to instruct His Majesty's Consul at Canton to sus- pend relations, I can only express my deep surprise. This is a question which entirely concerns commercial matters and is not a state affair. Seeing that His Majesty's Minister is exerting all this effort on the behalf of the profits of an indi- vidual company, how much more should I, a humble officer on the borders of the Empire, exercise care and caution in a matter of such supreme importance (as this railway). Further, unless care is taken in the initiation stages, trouble must ensue in the future; if an agreement is to be come to off-hand, the views of both parties cannot possibly harmonize and hereafter there will be jarrings on both sides, to the detriment of friendly relations between our two countries, and this I should cer tainly not like to see occur. In all my relations with you I have always acted with reason and right and I cannot understand what is meant by speaking of suspending relations. Each day that I remain in Canton I must study that day's duty, and I cannot overlook matters which interfere with local interests. I should be glad therefore, if you would convey these my views to His Majesty's Minister.
SIB,
With compliments and card enclosed, &c.
Enclosure 4 in No. 241.
CONSUL-GENERAL to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER.
(General. No. 17.)
Canton-Kowloon Railway.-Viceroy's New Proposals.
WITH reference to the question of the Canton-Kowloon Railway and your telegram, No. 15, of the 10th instant, I beg to enclose copy of the note which I addressed to the Viceroy in pursuance of your instructions. On the 15th instant, the day after the receipt of my note, the Viceroy sent his three secretaries to discuss the matter. The Viceroy was loud in his protestations of friendly intentions, but urged the necessity on his part of proceeding with care and caution. He invoked his efforts to obtain a copy of the Shanhaikwan Railway Agreement as a proof of his sincere desire to arrange matters. But the real object of the visit of the secretaries I soon found was to induce me to assent to the negotiations being trans- ferred to Tang-Shao-Yi in Peking. The secretaries, on behalf of the Viceroy, ex- patiated at some length on the suitability of such an arrangement, and failing to induce me to accept the Viceroy's proposal, they then urged me, on the Viceroy's behalf, to submit the suggestion to you. This I also declined, requesting them to inform the Viceroy that I consider the proposal as merely an attempt to delay and complicate matters. The Secretaries then informed me that the Viceroy had submitted to the Wai-Wu-Pu two offers for your consideration-firstly, China to raise a loan from the Corporation and build the railway herself, employing British engineers; the other that the Cantonese raise the money themselves, but purchase such materials as China did not possess through the British Corporation at current market rates. The Viceroy, the secretaries said, received no reply to this tele- gram, which was despatched to Peking on the 3rd of March, and stated that the only telegram which the Viceroy so far received from the Wai-Wu-Pu was the one urging the resumption of negotiations and dated 23rd February.
I urged the secretaries to arrange to have the negotiations resumed locally, but they represented that this could not be done, and pressed me to agree to have them conducted with Tang-Shao-Yi in Peking.
Subsequent to the interview I received a letter from the Viceroy, dated the 15th instant, a copy and translation of which I now beg to enclose. The Viceroy clearly indicates that he will only re-open negotiations on the basis of one of his two proposals, but from the terms of his telegram of the 3rd instant to the Wai- Wu-Pu (a copy and translation of the last sentence of which, confidentially obtained,
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