CO882-6 — Page 599

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

168

XXVI.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong.

(July 25, 1905.)

(Received after despatch of XXV.)

Your telegram of yesterday. I have every reason to believe that the summary of the Canton-Kowloon Agreements communicated by me to the foreign Board on April 26th is in the possession of the Canton Viceroy. On July 22nd Fraser communicated the same document to the Wuchang Viceroy. I have sent full instructions to His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, Canton, and he has been requested to keep you fully informed. The texts of assurances and Loan Agreement will be communicated to you as you requested.

SIR,

XXVII.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (July 28, 1905.)

Canton-Hankow Railway Loan. Following received from Foreign Office :--

"The Daily Chronicle' reports an interview between the King of the Belgians and Mr. Pierpont Morgan, in which the King represented that it was absolutely necessary to American and Belgian expansion in China that the railway should remain in the hands of capitalists of the two countries, and Pierpont Morgan was impressed and promised reflexion. If the money is advanced care should be taken that the Viceroys can only use it for purchase of the shares.” His Majesty's Consul-General, Hankow, has been informed.

(Confidential.)

Enclosure 2 in No. 128.

His Majesty's Consulate-General, Canton, July 25, 1905. I AM in receipt of Your Excellency's telegram, to which I have this day replied that I had duly communicated to the Viceroy the summary of the draft agreement for the joint working of the entire railway from Canton to Kowloon. Regarding the the other draft agreement, relating to the construction of the railway within Chinese territory, I informed the Viceroy that the arrangements were based on the terms of the Agreement for the Shanghai-Nanking Railway, concluded with Sheng Kung Pao in July, 1903. Yesterday afternoon the Viceroy, who is too ill to receive visitors, sent his confidential Secretary, requesting me to convey to Your Excellency the assur- ance of his friendly co-operation. The Viceroy recognises the importance which the British Government must attach to the construction of this railway, and that any opposition on his part would be regarded as hostile. The Secretary declared that the Viceroy's sole idea in the matter was to so arrange the question as not to allow any pretext by which other Powers might claim similar concessions in other parts of the two Kuang Provinces. It was the Viceroy's wish to construct that portion of the railway lying within Chinese territory, with Chinese capital if possible; borrowing, however, from British sources should native capital not be forthcoming. The Viceroy recognises that matters have reached such a stage that the Chinese portion of the railway must be built by some means or other; and his Secretary went on to say that the Viceroy would be glad of assistance from your Government, feeling sure of friendly and considerate treatment.

The Viceroy has telegraphed the terms of the Agreements to Peking, and is now awaiting instructions.

His Excellency

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

&c..

&c.,

&c., Hong Kong.

I have, &c.,

JAMES SCOTT,

Consul-General.

(Confidential.)

169

Enclosure 3 in No. 128.

SIR,

Government House, Hong Kong, July 26, 1905. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge and thank you for your confidential despatch of yesterday's date, informing me of the communications which had passed between the Viceroy and yourself on the subject of the Canton-Kowloon Railway.

2. I shall be obliged by your informing His Excellency, should you see no objection to this course, that I much appreciate his attitude towards this under- taking, the early execution of which will, I believe, tend alike to the advantage of this Colony and of the provinces ruled over by His Excellency, and will tend also to strengthen the friendly relations existing between them. reciprocate the Viceroy's anticipation of friendly and considerate treatment.

I also appreciate and

3. With regard to His Excellency's fears as to the question of this railway furnishing a pretext by which other Powers might claim similar concessions in other parts of the two Kuang Provinces, you will no doubt consider it advisable to point out, if you have not already done so, that the Loan Agreement with the British and China Corporation is no new departure, it having been accepted in principle as long ago as the year 1898, when the preliminary Agreement for the Canton-Kowloon Railway (of which you have a copy) was signed by Sheng Kung Pao. This pre- liminary document anticipated that the signature of a final agreement should follow the conclusion of one for the Shanghai-Nanking Railway. It is the draft of this final agreement that now awaits acceptance by the Chinese Authorities.

4. An Agreement for the joint working of the Chinese and British sections of the Canton-Kowloon Railway has also been foreshadowed in a previous convention, viz., in the Agreement signed at Peking on the 9th June, 1898. The draft, of which you have communicated a summary to His Excellency, will, I trust, be recognised as fair alike to the territories under His Excellency's and under my control.

5. As His Excellency recognises, the early conclusion of both these agreements and the consequent commencement of the construction of the railway are matters to which His Majesty's Government attribute great importance, I therefore await - with much interest a communication of the reply which His Excellency may receive to his telegram to Peking.

I have, &c.,

To His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General,

32213/S

SIR,

(Secret.)

Canton.

No. 129.

COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.

M. NATHAN.

WITH reference to the letter from this Department of September 2nd,* I am

Downing Street, September 9, 1905. directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to forward to you, to be laid before the Marquess of Lans- downe, the enclosed paraphrasest of telegraphic correspondence with the Governor of Hong Kong with regard to the loan negotiations in connection with the Hankow-Canton Railway.

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

Governor, September 4, 1905. Governor, September 5, 1905. To Governor, September 5, 1905. Governor, September 7. 1905. Governor, September 7, 1905.

32018/S.

(Secret.)

8m,

No. 180.

GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received September 11, 1905.)

Government House, Hong Kong, August 12, 1905. In continuation of my secret despatch of July 28th, 1908,‡ I have the honour

• L.F. transmitting copy of No. 128.

+ LIX, LXII, LXIV, LXXII, and LXXVI, in No. 144.

‡ No. 128.

18885

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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