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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TLC.O. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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(Secret.) MY LORD,

412

No. 271.

GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to THE EARL OF ELGIN.

(Received July 30, 1906.)

[Copy to Foreign Office, August 8, 1906. L.F.]

Government House, Hong Kong, June 30, 1906. IN continuation of my secret despatch of the 18th May* on the subject of negotiations for the completion of a Loan Agreement and of a Joint Working Agreement in connection with the proposed Canton-Kowloon Railway, I have the honour to enclose, for information and record, a paraphrase of further telegraphic communications with His Majesty's representative at Peking.

2. Mr. Carnegie's telegram of the 20th instant (XXXV.) stating that the Chinese Government promised to appoint at an early date a negotiator for the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement, if the question of the Hangchow line were temporarily dropped, and that he had agreed to this, is the communication of latest date that I have received from him, though his explanatory letter of June 8th, of which I enclose a copy, came subsequently to hand.

3. Of his earlier despatch, addressed to Sir Edward Grey on May 15th, your Lordship has doubtless received a copy from the Foreign Office.

4. The only communication that has come to me from Canton in the matter was in reply to one of the periodical letters I write to the Consul-General there when the time comes to renew the Proclamation issued every six months in this Colony for restricting the importation from it into China of arms and ammunition. I took the opportunity of pointing out how little assistance Hong Kong receives from the Viceroy and made special reference to the delay in the conclusion of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreements. In his reply, requesting the renewal of the Proclamation, the Viceroy wrote, on May 19th, to the following effect:-" As regards the Chinese section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, the money for the construc- tion of the line will be borrowed from the British and Chinese Corporation. I have already handed my proposals to Mr. Bland, the representative of the Corporation, with the request that he would forward them to his principals for consideration. After the Corporation have accepted my proposals there will be no difficulty in coming to an agreement for the joint working of the British and Chinese sections of the railway.'

5. From Mr. Bland I have received letters, dated the 24th of May and the 1st of June, but they contain little information beyond that the Chinese Govern- ment, though frequently pressed to appoint a negotiator, had not done so.

6. I regret not being able to report to your Lordship any progress in this matter, which is of such vital moment to this Colony.

Enclosure 1 in No. 271.

I have, &c.,

M. NATHAN.

PARAPHRASE of Telegraphic Correspondence with His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires, Peking. XXXIV.

GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY's ChargÉ D'AFFAIRES, Peking. (June 20, 1906.)

What progress has been made in the Canton to Kowloon Railway negotiations? -NATHAN.

XXXV.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (June 20, 1906.)

With reference to your telegram of to-day, a negotiator for the Canton-Kowloon

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Railway has not yet been appointed by the Chinese Government in spite of con- tinual pressure, but they promise that if the question of the Hangchow line is tem- porarily dropped, they will appoint one at an early date. I have agreed to this under instructions from the Foreign Office-CARNEGIE.

*SIR,

Enclosure 2 in No. 271.

Despatch from HIS BRITANNIC Majesty's Chargé d'Affair 26 at Peking, to the GOVERNOR of Hong Kong.

Peking, June 8, 1906.

WITH reference to my despatch of May 15th, I have the honour to state that on May 29th and again on June 5th I pressed the subject of the Canton-Kowloon Railway on the attention of the Wai-wu-pu in personal interviews.

It was made clear to me that, in the view of Prince Ch'ing, an agreement with regard to the Canton-Kowloon Railway offered less difficulty than the British and Chinese Corporations extension of the Shanghai-Nanking line to Shoochow, Hang- chow and Ningpo. For that and other reasons His Highness held that the Canton- Kowloon Railway should be taken first and separately, and I was informed that the appointment of a negotiator for the purpose was under the immediate consideration of the Chinese Government.

I have, &c..

His Excellency

29802

Sir Matthew Nathan, K.C.M.G., &c., &c., &c.

(Secret.)

MY LORD,

No. 272.

LANCELOT D. CARNEGIE.

GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to THE EARL OF ELGIN. (Received August 13, 1906.)

[Copy to Foreign Office, August 18, 1906. L.F.]

Government House, Hong Kong, July 12, 1906.

IN continuation of my secret despatch of the 18th May* dealing with the Chinese project to connect Whampoa with Canton by a railway, I have the honour to transmit, for your Lordship's information, translations of three articles on this subject that have recently appeared in the local Chinese Press. Copies and trans- lations of these articles have been sent to His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking.

I have, &c.,

Enclosure 1 in No. 272.

M. NATHAN.

TRANSLATION of an Extract from the "Wai San Yat Po," June 18, 1906.

The Decision as regards the Construction of the Canton-Amoy Railway. The Canton-Amoy Railway greatly concerns the two provinces of Fokien and Kwongtung. Some time ago Chan Po Sham, the Imperial Railway Commissioner for Fokien came to Canton to make arrangements for the construction of this rail- way. A discussion has been held in the Chamber of Commerce as we have reported. We have learned that His Excellency Chan proposes to follow the precedent adopted in the Canton-Hankow Railway, which is to be built by merchants, and that the railway is to be in two sections, to be built respectively by the merchants of the two provinces; he also proposes that the construction of the railway should be under- taken by one company, who should commence work in the two sections at the same time;

that the amount required to construct the section in Fokien should be raised by shares in Kwongtung; that any profit gained should be divided equally by the company; and that Chan and Cheung Pat-sz should be held responsible for inviting subscriptions for shares in the two provinces.

• No. 261.

Enclosure in No. 265.

.* No. 260.