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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

11111 C.O. 882

f

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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correspondence with the Crown Agents with regard to the payment of the sum of £1,100,000, which is being lent to the Viceroy of Wuchang. I have, &c.,

34310

(Secret.).

No. 138.

ALFRED LYTTELTON.

GOVERNOR SIR M. NATHAN to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received September 25, 1905.)

SIR,

Government House, Hong Kong, August 26, 1905. IN continuation of my secret despatch of August 12th, 1905,† I have the honour to enclose, for your information and record, a paraphrase of further tele- graphic correspondence with His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking and His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton on the subjects of a proposed loan in connection with the Canton-Hankow Railway, and of negotiations with the Viceroy of the Two Kwang for the completion of a Loan Agreement and of a Joint Working Agreement in connection with the proposed Canton-Kowloon Railway,

2. I also enclose the English text of the draft Agreement in connection with the first-named railway, despatched to me on the 7th August by His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking in accordance with his telegram of the same day (see XXXV.), and translations of the two Letters from the Viceroy at Wuchang, sent to me by His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Hankow, in accordance with his telegram to Peking of August 10th (see XXXIX.).‡

3. also enclose a copy of a demi-official letter from Mr. Scott at Canton, dated the 22nd August, replying to one in which I sent him the draft Agreement for the proposed loan to the Viceroy at Wuchang, and left it to his discretion whether to show it confidentially to the Viceroy at Canton, as had been suggested by the Consul- General at Hankow (see XXXIV.).↑

4. The last enclosure is a translation of a despatch of the 31st December, 1898, from the Director-General of Chinese Railways to the Viceroy of the Two Kwang with regard to the Canton-Kowloon Railway. This is the paper referred to in the final paragraph of Sir Ernest Satow's telegram to me of the 23rd instant (see XLIX.).

5. The general trend of the negotiations in the last fortnight has been, as you will see, very unsatisfactory. The advantages which we were to gain by the proposed loan to the Viceroy of the Two Hu for the redemption of the Canton- Hankow Railway have been gradually curtailed, while the Viceroy of the Two Kwang, far from assisting, promises to put every obstacle in the way of the comple- tion of the Loan and Joint Working Agreements for the railway from Canton to Kowloon.

6. In these circumstances I felt justified in making to Sir Ernest Satow the suggestion contained in my telegram of yesterday (see L.).

I have, &c.,

Enclosure 1 in No. 138. PARAPHRASE OF TELEGRAMS. XLI.

M. NATHAN.

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

(August 13, 1905.)

I have just received from His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton the following translation of a telegram from the Viceroy to the Wai-wu-pu which, he states, was communicated to him yesterday from a source which he has always found reliable.

Should the

"We have duly received the telegram of Sheng Kung Pao.

Canton to Kowloon Railway once pass into the hands of foreigners the whole of Canton Province is lost to China.

*NOR. 133, 134, 135 and 135A.

↑ No. 130.

In No. 130.

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"No matter how, funds must be raised and China must build the railway herself, and thus secure its control.

Block the foreigner's scheme by something more than empty words and, please, maintain a firm stand against the (British) Minister, and thus preserve the integrity of the State. This is our earnest prayer."

I suggest that strong representations be made to the Wai-wu-pu that China is bound by the preliminary Agreement with the British and Chinese Corporation to complete the Final Loan Agreement, that the draft of that Agreement preserves the legitimate interests of China; that Joint Working Agreement as drafted is necessary to secure the satisfactory working of the undertaking in the joint interests of Kwang Tung and Hong Kong; and that a negotiator should at once be appointed to complete both the agreements within the next two months.

You may think advisable to communicate the attitude of the Viceroy at Canton

to His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Wuchang in case he can induce the Viceroy there to persuade the Viceroy at Canton to be more reasonable.

You may also think advisable to bint at compensation due to British and Chinese Corporation if effect is not given without delay to their preliminary Agreement with Sheng Kung Pao.

XLII.

GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to His BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking. (August 14, 1905.)

Text of the telegram from the Viceroy to the Chinese Foreign Office, of which

I sent you the translation yesterday, appeared in a Chinese newspaper published in Hong Kong on August 11th.

XLIII.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (August 15, 1905.)

(No. 6.)

Your telegrams of August 13th and 14th. I have telegraphed instructions to Scott who will communicate them to you. I have been aware for some time of real attitude of Viceroy, Canton, which I hoped to alter amicably with the help of the Wuchang Viceroy. Though not sanguine my hope is not yet extinct. I am still engaged on a matter in which Sheng is concerned, and as soon as it is out of the way I propose to request the Wai-wu-pu to appoint someone as negotiator in the matter of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreements. Please send me a copy of the Chinese newspaper containing the Viceroy's telegram.

XLIV.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONSUL-GENERAL, Canton, to GOVERNOR, Hong Kong. (August 16, 1905.)

Following from His Majesty's Representative at Peking :-

Message begins: "The Governor, Hong Kong, informs me of the publication in a Hong Kong Chinese newspaper of August 11th, of the telegram from the Viceroy to the Wai-wu-pu, which you communicated to the Governor on August 12th. You should show this telegram, as published to the Viceroy, and if acknowledged or not' disavowed, ask him to reconcile its contents with message sent through his Private Secretary and reported in your despatch, No. 41.

1358A

"Point out to him that China is bound by the terms of the pre- liminary Agreement with the British and Chinese Corporation; that the draft final Agreement keeps the Chinese section as à Chinese rail- way, just as the Northern Railways are Chinese railways. That the legitimate interests of China are safeguarded by the Joint Working Agreement; and that the meaning apparently attributed to these

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