2
2. Formation of a Syndicate by the fusion of two former Mining Companies, Fou Hsiang and Yuan Feng.
3. The Syndicate to have exclusive management and control over all mines in Hunan, with the exception of those already under Government control, and all mining operations for which concessions have already been granted, or may be granted hereafter, to be under the control of the Syndicate, which is to be the only Mining Company. The Syndicate to correspond direct with the Governor, and the Governor's instructions to be conveyed to the Head Mining Bureau.
4. All mining operations, including going concerns, whether they be undertaken by private individuals or by Companies with a subscribed capital, to be registered by the Mining Syndicate and to conform with its Regulations.
5. The Province of Hunan to be divided into three mining districts---Changsha, Yochou, and Chang-te--and Fu-li-chou being the central district; Pao-ching-fu Heng-chou-fu, Yung-chou-fu, Ch'en-chou, Kwei-yang-chou to form the southern district; Ch'en-chou-fa, Yuan-chou-fu, Yung-shun-fu, Ching-chou, and the four sub-Prefectures, Feng-huang, Yung-sui, Kuang-chou, and Kan-chou being the western district.
6. The Concession granted by the Government to the Syndicate to be in perpetuity.
7. The monopoly to be granted to the Syndicate for mines of every description.
8. The Syndicate to act on commercial lines, and not on official principles.
9. The object of the Syndicate is to benefit all. No special privileges to be granted, equal treatment to be meted out to all comers.
10. The former Companies, Fu Hsiang and Yuan Feng, had capitals of 2,000,000 taels and 200,000 taels respectively. The capital they agree to put up together, after the fusion into one Company, is to be 2,000,000 taels at first, divided into 60,000 shares. Chinese of all provinces are entitled to be shareholders, but not foreigners.
Section II.
11. The Syndicate to engage Chinese mining engineers educated abroad or well-known foreign engineers, to prospect and inquire into the mineral resources of the whole province. Deputies or members of the gentry to be sent into all the districts to effect purchases of mining land.
12. The Syndicate's head office to be situated in Changsha, and branch offices at Yochou, Hankow, and Shanghai.
13. The smelting of ore to be carried on both by foreign and by Chinese methods. Native smelting furnaces may be established wherever required; foreign smelting works to be established at places selected with a view to conveniences of transport. The existing produce of smelting works to be disposed of under the management of the Syndicate at Changsha, to avoid confusion of prices.
14. The Directors of the three districts to have joint control of the Syndicate.
15. Persons of one district wishing to start mining operations in another district, must come to an understanding with the Syndicate previous to doing so.
16. Appointments to assistant Directorships to be made by the Head Office of the Syndicate with the approval of the Governor.
17. Directors and sub-Directors to be selected in accordance with the general desire of the shareholders. Should they disagree, the candidates to be nominated by ballot at the next general meeting of shareholders. The candidates selected to receive their appointments from the Governor.
18. The Governor to be requested to appoint an officer to supervise the handling of Government grants and dividends and to control the finances of the Syndicate generally.
19. The Syndicate to have a seal for its three districts, the old seals of the original Companies to be destroyed.
20. The Syndicate will create a mining bank, the cheques of which shall be current among the various mining Companies affiliated to the Syndicate. (This paragraph is open to further discussion and amplification.)
21. A school of mines is to be founded, the cost of which shall be refunded from the net profits in a manner to be hereafter defined, whether the outlay be provided out of special funds or out of the capital of the Syndicate. Any overplus may be used for extending the business of the Syndicate.
22. It is hoped that the capital of the Syndicate may hereafter be increased, and such increase shall be sanctioned.
3
Section III.
251
23-28. Details of the management of the shares, with a restriction against their being transferred to foreigners.
Section IV.
29-37. General meetings of shareholders.
Section V.
38. All owners of mining property to be notified by the provincial authorities that they must forward to the Syndicate samples of their ores for assaying purposes; in case of the distance being very great, those samples to be sent to the nearest local official for transmission.
39. A competent member of the gentry shall be sent to the various local authorities to select and examine mining estates with a view to ascertain whether they are worth working; he shall draw up plans and registers thereof, and request the local officials to confer with him and act accordingly.
40. When a mining estate has been registered, the Syndicate shall inform the local authorities. Such estate thereafter not to be sold to non-members of the Syndicate.
41. With the exception of the mining estates already in the possession of the Syndicate, all other estates that have been registered shall be surveyed afresh by a mining expert specially appointed by the Syndicate, and shall then be bought up by the Syndicate at a price agreed upon.
42. In case the owner of a mining estate is unwilling to sell, his property may be held as his share in the Syndicate. The property shall be worked by the Syndicate, and a suitable dividend shall be paid to the owner.
43. All mines that have been previously opened up, but where owners have had to suspend operations owing to want of capital, may also be assimilated as a share in the capital of the Syndicate. If the owners wish to continue to operate their mines themselves, then the provisions of Section VII shall apply.
44. Should any capitalists in the three districts wish to purchase or lease a mining estate, they must first obtain a written permission from the Mining Bureau, who will have had surveys made, or a despatch from the Syndicate to the local officials, authorizing them to seal the contract and receive the taxes payable thereon. Failing these documents, and if only the usual threefold land deed with the words "mining property" added thereto is produced in order to obtain tax receipts by fraud, the local authorities, on detection thereof, shall cancel the said deeds. This measure has been submitted to and approved by the Wai-wu Pu.
45. Should owners of mining estates not be willing to sell or to take part in the operations of the Syndicate, they must request the provincial authorities to issue a Proclamation. In such cases, the said owners shall send their title-deeds to the authorities of their district to be sealed and entered in the registers, to avoid other complications. In case of disobedience to this rule, offenders will be punished. Thereafter, unless the owners agree to let the Syndicate manage their property, any private rules or other arrangements will not be permitted.
Section VI.
46. Mining operations that have been authorized formerly, and that have been carried on without stopping up to the present time, shall continue to be worked as heretofore, but must be registered by the Syndicate.
47. The expenditure and receipts connected with work done at the mines, and the method of mining remain under the control of the mine-owner, and he may decide whether the ore produced shall be smelted by himself or sold to the Syndicate's smelting works. If he wishes to sell to outsiders the produce of ore smelted by himself, he must enter into an agreement with the Syndicate and obtain a permit.
48. Whenever mine-owners refuse to register their property, or to take a share in the Syndicate, or secretly sell their produce to non-members and refuse to abide by the
(1989 -2]
B 2
2
2. Formation of a Syndicate by the fusion of two former Mining Companies, Fou Hsiang and Yuan Feng.
3. The Syndicate to have exclusive management and control over all mines in Hunan, with the exception of those already under Government control, and all mining operations for which concessions have already been granted, or may be granted here after, to be under the control of the Syndicate, which is to be the only Mining Company. The Syndicate to correspond direct with the Governor, and the Governor's instructions to be conveyed to the Head Mining Bureau.
4. All mining operations, including going concerns, whether they be undertaken by private individuals or by Companies with a subscribed capital, to be registered by the Mining Syndicate and to conform with its Regulations.
5. The Province of Hunan to be divided into three mining districts---Changsha, Yochou, and Chang-te--and Fu-li-chou being the central district; Pao-ching-fu Heng-chou-fu, Yung-chou-fu, Ch'en-chon, Kwei-yang-chou to form the southern district; Ch'en-chou-fa, Yuan-chou-fu, Yung-shun-fu, Ching-chou, and the four sub- Prefectures, Feng-huang, Yung-sui, Kuang-chou, and Kan-chou being the western district.
6. The Concession granted by the Government to the Syndicate to be in perpetuity.
7. The monopoly to be granted to the Syndicate for mines of every description. S. The Syndicate to act on commercial lines, and not on official principles. 9. The object of the Syndicate is to benefit all. No special privileges to be granted, equal treatment to be meted out to all comers.
10. The former Companies, Fu Hsiang and Yuan Feng, bad capitals of 2,000,000 taels and 200,000 taels respectively. The capital they agree to put up together, after the fusion into one Company, is to be 2,000,000 taels at first, divided into 60,000 shares. Chinese of all provinces are entitled to be shareholders, but not foreigners.
Section II.
11. The Syndicate to engage Chinese mining engineers educated abroad or well- known foreign engineers, to prospect and inquire into the mineral resources of the whole province. Deputies or members of the gentry to be sent into all the districts to effect purchases of mining land.
12. The Syndicate's head office to be situated in Changsha, and branch offices at Yochou, Hankow, and Shangbae.
13. The smelting of ore to be carried on both by foreign and by Chinese methods. Native smelting furnaces may be established wherever required; foreign smelting works to be established at places selected with a view to conveniences of transport. The existing produce of smelting works to be disposed of under the management of the Syndicate at Changsha, to avoid confusion of prices.
14. The Directors of the three districts to have joint control of the Syndicate. 15. Persons of one district wishing to start mining operations in another district, must come to an understanding with the Syndicate previous to doing so.
16. Appointments to assistant Directorships to be made by the Head Office of the Syndicate with the approval of the Governor.
17. Directors and sub-Directors to be selected in accordance with the general desire of the shareholders. Should they disagree, the candidates to be nominated by ballot at the next general meeting of shareholders. The candidates selected to receive their appointments from the Governor.
18. The Governor to be requested to appoint an officer to supervise the handling of Government grants and dividends and to control the finances of the Syndicate generally.
19. The Syndicate to have a seal for its three districts, the old seals of the original Companies to be destroyed.
20. The Syndicate will create a mining bank, the cheques of which shall be current among the various mining Companies affiliated to the Syndicate. (This para- graph is open to further discussion and amplification.)
21. A school of mines is to be founded, the cost of which shall be refunded from the net profits in a manner to be hereafter defined, whether the outlay be provided out of special funds or out of the capital of the Syndicate. Any overplus may be used for extending the business of the Syndicate.
22. It is hoped that the capital of the Syndicate may hereafter be increased, and such increase shail be sanctioned.
3
Section III.
251
23-28. Details of the management of the shares, with a restriction against their being transferred to foreigners.
Section IV.
29-37. General meetings of shareholders.
Section V.
38. All owners of mining property to be notified by the provincial authorities that they must forward to the Syndicate samples of their ores for assaying purposes; in case of the distance being very great, those samples to be sent to the nearest local official for transmission.
39. A competent member of the gentry shall be sent to the various local authorities to select and examine mining estates with a view to ascertain whether they are worth working; he shall draw up plans and registers thereof, and request the local officials to confer with him and act accordingly.
40. When a mining estate has been registered, the Syndicate shall inform the local authorities. Such estate thereafter not to be sold to non-members of the Syndicate.
41. With the exception of the mining estates already in the possession of the Syndicate, all other estates that have been registered shall be surveyed afresh by a mining expert specially appointed by the Syndicate, and shall then be bought up by the Syndicate at a price agreed upon.
42. In case the owner of a mining estate is unwilling to sell, his property may be held as his share in the Syndicate. The property shall be worked by the Syndicate, and a suitable dividend shall be paid to the owner.
43. All mines that have been previously opened up, but where owners have had to suspend operations owing to want of capital, may also be assimilated as a share in the capital of the Syndicate. If the owners wish to continue to operate their mines themselves, then the provisions of Section VII shall apply.
44. Should any capitalists in the three districts wish to purchase or lease a mining estate, they must first obtain a written permission from the Mining Bureau, who will have had surveys made, or a despatch from the Syndicate to the local officials, authorizing them to seal the contract and receive the taxes payable thereon. Failing these documents, and if only the usual threefold land deed with the words "mining property" added thereto is produced in order to obtain tax receipts by fraud, the local authorities, on detection thereof, shall cancel the said deeds. This measure has been submitted to and approved by the Wai-wu Pu.
45. Should owners of mining estates not be willing to sell or to take part in the operations of the Syndicate, they must request the provincial authorities to issue a Proclamation. In such cases, the said owners shall send their title-deeds to the autho- rities of their district to be sealed and entered in the registers, to avoid other complications. In case of disobedience to this rule, offenders will be punished. Thereafter, unless the owners agree to let the Syndicate manage their property, any private rules or other arrangements will not be permitted.
Section VI.
46. Mining operations that have been authorized formerly, and that have been carried on without stopping up to the present time, shall continue to be worked as heretofore, but must be registered by the Syndicate.
47. The expenditure and receipts connected with work done at the mines, and the method of mining remain under the control of the mine-owner, and he may decide whether the ore produced shall be smelted by himself or sold to the Syndicate's smelting works. If he wishes to sell to outsiders the produce of ore smelted by himself, he must enter into an agreement with the Syndicate and obtain a permit.
48. Whenever miue-owners refuse to register their property, or to take a share in the Syndicate, or secretly sell their produce to non-members and refuse to abide by the
(1989 -2]
B 2
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