1904-1919
HONG KONG, 1906.
27
The attempts of His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Canton and Minister at Peking and of the Hong Kong Government to get the Chinese authorities to open negotiations for the conclusion of a Final Loan Agreement for the Chinese section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway and of an agreement for the joint working of that with the British section resulted in four meetings being held at Canton, in March and April, between representatives of the Viceroy there and of the British and Chinese Corporation, in the Viceroy recognising the Preliminary Agreement made by the Corporation with the Chinese Government on the 28th March, 1899, and in his proposing arrangements which, though they differed materially from those of the preliminary loan agreement and included none for joint working, were accepted as the basis for the further negotiations. These, after many delays, were carried on at Peking between T'ang Shao-yi, the Chinese Director-General of Railways, two representatives of the Canton Viceroy, and Mr. J. O. P. Bland representing the Corporation. Ten meetings were held between the 23rd August and the 7th November, and on the 10th of the latter month a Final Loan Agreement was signed by Tang Shao-yi and Mr. Bland. It provides for the Corporation issuing a 5 per cent. loan of £1,500,000 for the construction and equipment of the Chinese section of the railway. A first mortgage on the railway is to be the security of the loan, the duration of which is to be 30 years. The construction is to be under the direction of a Chinese Managing Director with whom are to be associated a British Engineer-in-Chief and a British Chief Accountant. The agreement provides that a further one for the joint working of the British and Chinese sections of the railway should be arranged between the Viceroy of Canton and the Governor of Hong Kong. Negotiations for this further agreement were not started before the end of the year.
The Final Loan Agreement for the Canton-Kowloon Railway also lays it down that "it is understood that the Chinese Government will not build another line competing with this railway to its detriment." In this connection, it may be mentioned that a proposal of the Chinese authorities to build a line towards Amoy, which for some 40 miles must have followed approximately the same course as the Canton-Kowloon Railway, called forth considerable opposition from Hong Kong, where it was held that the construction of such a line was contrary to the preliminary agreement of March, 1899.
While the survey work on the British section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway was being completed in the early part of the year, construction was proceeding on the line between Tai Po and Lo Fu Ferry under the Public Works Department, and by the end of April about 21 miles of bank had been formed, not including, however, any bridge or heavy earthwork. On the 23rd March Mr. W. G. Eves, who had been appointed by the Consulting Engineers—Sir John Wolfe Barry and Company—
77
1904-1919
HONG KONG, 1906.
27
The attempts of His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Canton and Minister at Peking and of the Hong Kong Government to get the Chinese authorities to open negotiations for the con- clusion of a Final Loan Agreement for the Chinese section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway and of an agreement for the joint working of that with the British section resulted in four meetings being held at Canton, in March and April, between representatives of the Viceroy there and of the British and Chinese Corporation, in the Viceroy recognising the Prelimi- nary Agreement made by the Corporation with the Chinese Government on the 28th March, 1899, and in his proposing arrangements which, though they differed materially from those of the preliminary loan agreement and included none for joint working, were accepted as the basis for the further negotiations. These, after many delays, were carried on at Peking between T'ang Shao-yi, the Chinese Director-General of Railways, two representatives of the Canton Viceroy, and Mr. J. O. P. Bland representing the Corporation. Ten meet- ings were held between the 23rd August and the 7th November, and on the 10th of the latter month a Final Loan Agreement was signed by Tang Shao-yi and Mr. Bland. It provides for the Corporation issuing a 5 per cent. loan of £1,500,000 for the construction and equipment of the Chinese section of the railway. A first mortgage on the railway is to be the security of the loan, the duration of which is to be 30 years. The con- struction is to be under the direction of a Chinese Managing Director with whom are to be associated a British Engineer-in- Chief and a British Chief Accountant. The agreement provides that a further one for the joint working of the British and Chinese sections of the railway should be arranged between the Viceroy of Canton and the Governor of Hong Kong. Negotia- tions for this further agreement were not started before the end of the year.
The Final Loan Agreement for the Canton-Kowloon Railway also lays it down that "it is understood that the Chinese Government will not build another line competing with this railway to its detriment." In this connection, it may be men- tioned that a proposal of the Chinese authorities to build a line towards Amoy, which for some 40 miles must have fol- lowed approximately the same course as the Canton-Kowloon Railway, called forth considerable opposition from Hong Kong, where it was held that the construction of such a line was contrary to the preliminary agreement of March, 1899.
While the survey work on the British section of the Canton- Kowloon Railway was being completed in the early part of the year, construction was proceeding on the line between Tai Po and Lo Fu Ferry under the Public Works Department, and by the end of April about 21 miles of bank had been formed, not including, however, any bridge or heavy earthwork. On the 23rd March Mr. W. G. Eves, who had been appointed by the Consulting Engineers-Sir John Wolfe Barry and Company-
77
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