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PUBLIC

RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TTC.O. 882

6

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

512

spot. The survey of the land for the port of Whampoa has not been undertaken yet. The railway track will pass over several small rivers, all very narrow-the widest being the Niu River, which also is not very wide-and the work will be easily done.

1996

No. 323.

FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received January 16, 1907.)

[Answered by No. 325.]

The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and, by direction of the Secretary of State, transmits herewith copy of the under-mentioned paper.

Foreign Office,

January 15, 1907.

REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS LETTER: Foreign Office of December 20, 1906.*

DESCRIPTION OF ENCLOSURE.

Name and Date

Subject

Canton-Kowloon Railway-

Final Loan Agreement.

Sir J. Jordan, His Majesty's Minister at Peking,

No. 464 of November 12th, 1906.

SIR,

(No. 464.)

Enclosure in No. 323.

Sir J. JORDAN to Sir EDWARD GREY. (Received December 29.)

Peking, November 12, 1906. WITH reference to my despatch, No. 451, of the 1st November, and to my telegrams, Nos. 213 and 214, of the 10th and 11th November, I have the honour to enclose copy of the Canton-Kowloon Final Loan Agreement, as signed on the 10th November by His Excellency T'ang Shoa-yi and Mr. Bland. All that now remains necessary to conclude the Agreement definitively is the issue of the Imperial Decree mentioned in Article 19.

To complete the record, I also enclose copy of the Minutes of the tenth meeting of the negotiators, which was held on the 7th November.

Throughout the discussions on this matter both Mr. Carnegie and myself have considered it of some importance in the present state of Chinese feeling to avoid, as far as possible, being forced to make official representations at the Wai-wu Pu in support of Mr. Bland's proposals. It seemed to us highly desirable, in the future interests of British industrial enterprise, that the Agreement between the Corpora- tion and the Chinese Government should be concluded without undue pressure. At the same time, every occasion was seized to remove difficulties and to assist the negotiations by offering advice and suggestions. I should also mention that, in the almost daily interviews which I have had with Mr. Bland on this subject, I have kept steadily in view the principles laid down in your Confidential despatches, Nos. 260 and 298 of the 7th and 31st August,

A copy of this despatch will be sent to the Governor of Hong Kong.

• No. 321-

I have, &c.,

J. N. JORDAN.

513

CANTON-KOWLOON RAILWAY.

Minutes of Tenth Meeting held at the Wai-wu Pu on Wednesday, November 7, 1906. Present:

His Excellency T'ang Shao-yi;

Kung Taotai and Mr. Hu, representing the Viceroy of Canton;

Mr. En, Secretary to the Wai-wu Pu; and

Mr. J. O. P. Bland, representing the British and Chinese Corporation

(Limited).

The draft Agreement, as finally revised and compared in the English and Chinese versions, was considered, the Canton Viceroy's representatives explaining to his Excellency T'ang Shao-yi the several verbal amendments in the text agreed upon since last meeting, which were approved by His Excellency. A printed proof of the Amortization Table was handed in by Mr. Bland, and referred to Mr. En for translation.

It was agreed to leave the preamble as originally drafted, and to omit the clause stipulating for an extension of the eight months' time limit to which the Corporation was opposed.

It was understood that a final meeting would be held either on Saturday the 10th instant, or on Monday the 12th instant, for signature of the Agreement, to be thereafter submitted for the Imperial sanction; in the meanwhile, the text would be officially checked by the Secretary to the Wai-wu Pu.

His Excellency T'ang Shao-yi stated that, as the result of changes in adminis- tration decided upon by the Throne, the conduct of negotiations for railways, &c., would hereafter be in the hands of a new Board, the Board of Communications, acting with undivided authority and responsibility. His Excellency, having been transferred from the Wai-wu Pu to this new Board, hoped that more rapid progress would be made in future; he also stated that the delay in settling the question of the Shanghae-Nanking Railway funds had been caused by these changes in the Govern- ment, but that the money would assuredly be forthcoming.

The meeting then adjourned.

CANTON-KOWLOON RAILWAY.

AGREEMENT between the Wai-wu Pu (Board of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government) and the British and Chinese Corporation (Limited), for the issue and regulation of a Loan for the construction of a Railway from the city of Canton to the boundary of the Kowloon leased territory under British control (hereinafter called "the Railway").

This Agreement is made at Peking on the

year of Kuang Hsü, corresponding to the the contracting parties are

day of the day of

month of the

1906, and

The Wai-wu Pu, acting under the authority of an Imperial Decree, of the one part, and the British and Chinese Corporation (Limited) (hereinafter called the Corporation), of the other part;

Whereas a Preliminary Agreement was made on the 28th March, 1899, between His Excellency Shang, Director-General of the Imperial Chinese Railway Adminis- tration acting under the authority of the Tsung-li Yamên, of the one part, and the British firm of Jardine, Matheson, and Company, for themselves and on behalf of the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation representing as joint agents the Corporation, of the other part, and it was part of the objects thereof that the terms of another preliminary Agreement, signed by the same contracting parties on the 13th May, 1898, should be thereby adopted as a preliminary Agreement for the construction and working of a railway from the city of Canton to the boundary of the Kowloon leased territory under British control, subject, however, as far as might be practicable, to the terms and conditions thereafter agreed to in the final Contract for the Shanghac-Nanking Railway when signed and ratified :.

Now, it is hereby agreed by and between the parties hereto, as follows:--- Article 1. The Corporation agrees to issue, on behalf of the Imperial Chinese Government, a sterling loan (hereinafter referred to as "the loan") for the amount of 1,500,000 on the terms and conditions hereinafter contained. Imperial Chinese Government bonds are to be issued for the entire amount, similar to the bonds of

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