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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

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

6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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who will survey the land, enter it on the register, and give it to the Company in usufruct for such period as the agreement shall last, the Company undertaking to pay a yearly ground rent.

(b) If the land is private property, or the common property of the local gentry, the Company shall negotiate a price with the owners, and the sale shall take place by mutual agreement. The Company shall continue to pay all legitimate taxes.

(c) If the owner will not come to terms the Company can appeal to the nearest local official to arrange the purchase. The Company shall pay at the market rate for land in the locality.

(d) If the land includes any trees, houses, ponds, wells, or other things, on which labour and money have been expended, a price must be paid in addition to the value of the land. If agreement as to the price is impossible, the course laid down in the preceding section shall be followed.

(e) Détours must be made to avoid graveyards, but in the case of scattered graves which it is impossible to avoid, liberal compensation must be given for the expense of removing the same, in addition to the value of the land.

(f) The Company must be just in its dealings with the inhabitants of the places through which the railway passes, and must strive to avoid any injury to the locality or to the feelings of the people, and on the other hand the inhabitants must not make pretexts for obstructing the railway or spread rumours. If there is any hostile combination, the Company can appeal to the local officials to issue a proclamation of warning, setting forth that the construction of the railway has for its object the promotion of commerce and the revival of agriculture, and that the people must follow their callings in peace, and on no account stir up trouble.

(XI.) All labour required for making cuttings, digging, carrying, and filling in earth, and carrying materials, must be hired on the spot. The manner of engage- ment shall be for the Company to apply to the gentry of the community to fix the wages to be paid.

(XII) Police and watchmen to guard the line, and watchmen for the buildings required in connection with the railway, must all be Chinese, and the men over them must be selected by the Chinese officials.

(XIII) The Railway Company agree to provide funds wherewith to erect build- ings at the principal stations where all merchandise entering or leaving Chinese territory may be examined by the Chinese Maritime Customs for payment of duty.

(XIV.) When the whole line, or a section thereof, shall have been completed, the Company shall ask the Director-General of Railways and the Portuguese Consul- General at Canton to make a communication in this sense to the Governor-General of the Liang Kuang.

(XV.) When the whole line, or a section thereof, shall have been completed, the Governor-General of the Liang Kuang and the Governor of Macao shall consult as to the place and manner of collecting the duties on imports and exports carried by the railway. Trains will not begin running until the customs question has been satisfactorily settled.

(XVI.) Fares and freight-charges will be fixed by the Company.

(XVII.) The gauge of the railway shall be the same as that of the railway already constructed at Canton.

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(XVIII) Materials transported by the Company have a perfect right to use the public roads, but no damage must be done to persons, buildings, or other property. If any damage is done the Company must pay suitable compensation. permissible to erect matsheds, required either as preparation for the erection of buildings, or as dwellings for workmen as also storehouses for construction materials, provided there is no cause for objecting thereto. If built on Crown land no payment need be made; if on private property, a rent-charge shall be arranged with the owner, the land being surrendered on completion of the work.

(XIX.) The Company shall be authorised to remove free of charge stone and sand required in the construction of the railway if found on Crown Land, provided Chiņa sees no objection. In the ense of private property an arrangement must be

made with the owner; but if the owner demands an extortionate price, far above the actual value, the local authorities, having examined into the circumstances, will endeavour to make a satisfactory arrangement so as to avoid loss to either party.

(XX.) As the Chinese Government is not giving the land for the railway which this Company is building, and does not guarantee interest on the capital, they make the following three Concessions to the Company:-

(a) The Company may make tanks in the neighbourhood of the line from which pipes may be laid to supply the water required for the railway.

(b) The Company may erect a sanatorium and a summer resort in the Hsiang

Shan district.

(c) The Company may establish schools for the training of young Chinese as interpreters of Portuguese or mechanics, so that on the completion of their instruction they may be engaged to serve the Company. The places where these schools are to be established shall be chosen in consultation with the local officials.

The land on which it may be proposed to erect buildings in terms of the above three sections, if private property, shall be arranged for with the owner; if Crown Land taxes shall be paid.

(XXI.) If the receipts of the railway cover the expenses and 6 per cent. interest on the capital per annum, and also the maximum of 3 per cent. per annum, to be placed to the credit of the sinking fund, any money left över is net profit, and, after deduction of 30 per cent. for the Chinese Government, shall be divided, pro rata, annually among the shareholders. The sinking fund shall be continued until the whole of the capital has been redeemed. As regards the method of ascertaining

the amount of the capital, the Company's accounts and the total of the yearly state- ments issued by the Company for the information of shareholders, shall be taken as a guide.

(XXII.) If on the expiration of fifty years from the date on which traffic commences the sinking fund shall be sufficient to redeem the entire capital, then the railway and all buildings belonging to it shall revert to the Chinese Government without payment. Should the fund be insufficient to redeem the capital, the Chinese Government shall arrange with the Company to make up the differences; only when it has been fully redeemed will the railway revert to China. As the method of reckoning capital, the Company's accounts and the total of the yearly statements issued by the Company for the information of the shareholders shall be evidence.

(XXIII.) If the Company becomes bankrupt or its accounts get into confusion, the Governments of the two countries will not interfere or pay compensation.

(XXIV.) In addition to the police and watchmen employed by the Company to guard the railway, the Chinese Government must give it full protection, and extend the same to any buildings required for the railway or other establishments which the local officials may authorise the Company to set up, in order to prevent their destruction or robbery by evildoers.

(XXV.) The Company is at liberty to set up any necessary telegraph and tele- phone lines along the line of the railway, but they must be solely for the use of the railway, and telegrams must not be received or despatched for outside persons.

(XXVI.) If in the event of war, rebellion. or famine the Chinese Government wish to use the railway for the transport of soldiers, war material, accoutrements, provisions or relief stores, the railway must, in the first place, provide the passenger and goods wagons_required, at half the usual rates. At ordinary times there will be no reduction. In the event of war no assistance must be given to the enemies of China.

(XXVII.) The railway will carry free of charge all official despatches, and the mails of the Imperial Chinese Post Office, and will conform with the hereinafter laid down regulations:→→→

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(a.) The railway only consents to carry the mails of the Imperial Chinese Post Office; it is not permitted to carry the mails of private or foreign post offices. With regard to the articles which, according to the agreement, must be carried for the military forces of foreign countries, the Chinese Post Office will convey them by train along with the daily mails.

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