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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TELEC.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

29827/8.

(Confidential.)

SIR,

No. 267.

FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received October 30, 1899.)

[Answered by No. 271.]

to

Foreign Office, October 28, 1899. I AM directed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to transmit to you, Lo Fêng Luh, (ctober 17. be laid before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the accom- panying copy of a note, as marked in the margin, respecting the retrocession of Sham Chun to China.

(Confidential.)

I am,

&c.,

MARTIN GOSSELIN.

Enclosure in No. 267.

Sir LO FENG LUH to the Marquess of SALISBURY,

(Received October 18.)

MY LORD,

Chinese Legation, October 17, 1899. REFERRING to Your Lordship's letter of the 30th May, I have the honour to inform you that I did not fail to acquaint the Tsung-li Yamen by telegraph of the decision of Her Majesty's Government to provisionally continue the British occupation of the Chinese town of Samchun, and reserve for future consideration the question of the permanent arrangements which would have to be made respecting it.

I have just received a telegram from the Tsung-li Yamen, informing me that shortly after receiving the above-mentioned communication, Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires in Peking called at the Yamen and stated that he had been authorized by Your Lordship to say that Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to evacuate, and restore to China, the town of Samchun on two conditions, viz.:-

1. That the instalments then due to the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation for interest on the Shan-hai-kwan Railway Loan should be promptly paid 2. That Tan Tzu-cheng, the fugitive criminal accused of having been the prin cipal instigator of the murder of Mr. Fleming, should be arrested and brought to justice.

Now, these two conditions have been fulfilled. In a despatch which the Yamen bas addressed to the British Chargé d'Affaires, the Yamen requested him to inform Your Lordship that Tan Tzu-cheng had been arrested in the Province of Hunan, and that the money which had been owing to the bondholders of the Shan-hai-kwan Railway Loan had been duly paid. Further, Mr. Bax-Ironside was to request Your Lordship to have the goodness to cause the Governor of Hong Kong to be directed to order the evacuation of the town of Samchun, and to permit the Chinese authorities to resume the government of the city of Kowlung, conformably with the Convention of the 9th June, 1898, which stipulates that the intra-mural jurisdiction of the place reserved to China.

The Yamen, having received no answer to the above requests, have desired me to call the attention of Your Lordship to the matter, and at the same time express the hope that, as the Convention for the extension of the boundaries of the Colony of Hong Kong was agreed to as a special mark of China's friendship for Great Britain, and as the two conditions which Your Lordship imposed for the retrocession of the town of Samchun have been fulfilled, arrangements may be made for the restoration of that place to China at an early date, also for the Chinese authorities being enabled to resume the government of the city of Kowlung.

I have, &c.,

LO FENG LUR.

29088.

No. 268.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE. (No. 251.) SIR,

Downing Street, October 31, 1899.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 145, of the 14th June last,* enquiring whether payment should be made for the punue buildings in the New Territory evacuated by the Chinese Imperial Customs authorities, and what steps should be taken in regard to the maintenance of the lighthouse on Waglan Island.

اهر

2. As regards the former point, I have to inform you that Her Majesty's Govern- ment, as at present advised, see no reason for offering to pay the Chinese Government the value of the public buildings in question.

I may add that it appears that all public property, either lands or buildings, which formerly belonged to the Chinese Government, in the territory leased by Her Majesty's Government at Wei-Hai-Wei, was taken over without payment.

3. In regard to the question of the lighthouse on Waglan Island, I should be glad to be informed whether in your opinion it would not be advisable to strengthen the light on Cape Collinson, as suggested by the Corporation of Trinity House in the letter,t of which a copy is enclosed, since it appears that if this were done, the Cape d'Aguilar light might be given up, and the expense of maintaining the light on Wagian Island be reduced in proportion. I may add that the Board of Trade have concurred in the views expressed in the enclosed letter.

4. It appears to me that whatever decision may be arrived at in regard to the suggestions of the Trinity House, the Waglan Island light should be maintained.

29088.

SIR,

No. 289.

I have, &c.,

J. CHAMBERLAIN.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE. [Answered by No. 295.]

(Confidential.)

Downing Street, October 31, 1899. WITH reference to my public despatch, No. 251, of even date,‡ I have the honour to request that you will immediately cause a rough estimate to be prepared of the value of the buildings in the New Territory, which have been evacuated by the Chinese Imperial Customs, in case it should be decided that their value may be set off against the compensation which it is proposed to demand from the Chinese Government for the expenses incurred in connection with the military operations in the New Territory.

I have, &c.,

J. CHAMBERLAIN.

28428

No. 270.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE. (Sent 10.50 a.m., November 2, 1899.)

[See Nos. 272A, 288, and 296.] TELEGRAM.

Her Majesty's Government have decided to withdraw from Sham Chun within boundary previously delimited. Take steps accordingly without delay.

Viceroy

• No. 223.

↑ Enclosure in No. 263.

‡ No. 268.