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PUBLIC

RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TLC.O. 882

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6

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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of negotiations for the completion of a loan agreement and of a joint working agree- ment in connection with the proposed Canton-Kowloon Railway, I have the honour to enclose, for your information and record, a paraphrase of further telegraphic corre- spondence with His Majesty's Minister at Peking and His Majesty's Consul-General at Canton.

2. My telegram of the 1st December (CXLV.) was sent to Mr. Scott on receipt of a letter from him conveying Mr. Wei's thanks for the interview I had granted him, as reported in my despatch above referred to, but adding that the Viceroy regretted that owing to ill-health he was not able to see Mr. Ross. In reply to this telegram Mr. Scott wrote to me on the 4th that, with the Viceroy ill, it seemed as if nothing could be definitely settled. He added that the Viceroy cared nothing for the Wei-Wu-Pu and that all he wanted was to cancel the agreement with the Cor- poration. On receipt of this letter from the Consul General, I sent my telegram of the 5th (CXLVI.) to His Majesty's Minister, who saw the Wei-Wu-Pu on the fol- lowing day, and sent to the Consul-General his telegram of the 7th (CXLVII.), which was communicated to me by Mr. Scott by letter on the 9th. On the 12th he sent me a copy of a despatch which, on that day, he had addressed to Sir Ernest Satow, of which a copy is forwarded herewith, together with a translation of the Viceroy's letter of the 11th, which it enclosed, deputing Mr. Wei and a Mr. Kung to meet the Agent of the British and Chinese Corporation. I at once saw Mr. Ross and sent my telegram of the 13th (CXLVIII.), asking that a meeting might be arranged for to-day (December 15th). Etiquette, however, required that the Viceroy should fix the date of the meeting and he has now appointed the 18th.

3. Mr. Ross has communicated with the British and Chinese Corporation in London on the subject of the approaching interview and has been informed by them that they would see your Department in the matter. I have carefully considered whether it would be advisable to communicate with you by telegraph with regard to any modifications of the draft agreements, but have come to the conclusion that nothing could be gained by doing so until some definite proposals, not involving the surrender of the concession, are put forward by the Viceroy's deputies. I am, and shall of course continue to be, in close communication with Mr. Ross throughout the negotiations. He will agree to no modifications of the draft without my consent and I shall agree to no material ones without consulting you.

4. I take this opportunity of acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Lyttelton's secret despatches of the 3rd and 17th November, 1905, forwarding, for my information, with reference to my despatch of the 22nd September,t copies of correspondencet with the Foreign Office on the subject of asking the British and Chinese Corporation to surrender their concession. Sir Ernest Satow had previously been good enough to send me privately a copy of Lord Lansdowne's telegram to him of the 12th November.

I have, &c.,

M. NATHAN,

Governor.

Enclosure 1 in No. 195.

PARAPHRASE of further Telegraphic Correspondence with His Majesty's Minister, Peking, and His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Canton.

CXLV.

GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to His BRITANNIC Majesty's Consul-GENERAL, Canton. (Despatched 10.15 a.m., December 1, 1905.)

As you are aware, the Viceroy has received definite instructions from the Wai- Wu-Pu to start negotiations with the Corporation at once. Can you not suggest to him that, if he is too ill to see Mr. Ross himself, he should negotiate through one of his Secretaries.-NATHAN.

• L.F.F.

† No. 148.

Nos. 158 and 165.

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CXLVI.

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

(Despatched 11.15 a.m., December 5, 1905.)

Your telegram, No. 23. The Viceroy declines to see Mr. Ross on grounds of ill- ness and has deputed no one to negotiate on his behalf. Mr. Scott says the Viceroy cares nothing about the Wai-Wu-Pu's instructions.

Will you consider what further steps can be taken.-NATHAN.

CXLVII.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S MINISTER, Peking, to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONSUL-GENERAL, Canton.

(December 7, 1905.)

Canton-Kowloon Railway. The Governor of Hong Kong's telegram to me of 5th December. Yesterday, at an interview, the Wai-Wu-Pu promised to telegraph to the Viceroy to negotiate himself with the Agents of the Corporation or appoint a deputy. Please see the Viceroy and urge this matter. Inform Hong Kong.-SATow.

CXLVIII.

GOVERNOR, Hong Kong, to HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONBUL-GENERAL, Canton. (Despatched 12.50 p.m., December 13, 1905.)

Your letter, No. 232. Mr. Ross will arrive in Canton early on Saturday morning. Please endeavour to arrange a meeting with the Viceroy's deputies for that day.-- NATHAN.

SIR,

Enclosure 2 in No. 195.

His Majesty's Consulate-General, Canton, December 12, 1905.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 7th instant, but regret that a slight delay occurred owing to the fact that a mistake in one of the cypher groups necessitated the latter part of the telegram being repeated.

Meantime, on the 9th instant, the Viceroy sent his Secretary to see me and explain that His Excellency was still seriously ill and unable to receive any visitors; and that, under these circumstances, it was impossible for His Excellency to enter into personal negotiations with the British and Chinese Corporation. I urged, how- ever, that in any case His Excellency should nominate a deputy to discuss matters with the Agent of the Corporation and now beg to enclose copy and translation of the reply which I have this day received from the Viceroy in answer to my formal application on the subject.

I am duly communicating with His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong so that the Agent of the Corporation may come to Canton and meet the two deputies appointed by the Viceroy for the purpose.

During my interview with the Viceroy's Secretary on the 9th instant, the latter assured me that the Viceroy's wish was to secure the cancellation of the whole Canton- Kowloon Railway Agreement and to have the railway constructed by Chinese with Chinese capital only. The Viceroy, he said, desired me to convey an appeal to you privately and confidentially to assist China in this respect, and especially to agree to a substantial increase of the tax on Indian opium, the proceeds of which would be devoted to constructing the line. The Viceroy complained that this position was rendered more difficult by the fact that the French Consul here and the French Minister in Pekin claimed that whatever railway facilities or concessions were granted to British companies the same right should be granted to them in respect of a railway from Kwong Chan Wan into the interior.

THAST

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