Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum on the Franco-Chinese Agreement for the Yunnan Railway. Signed at Peking, October 29, 1903.
1. Abstract of Agreement.
PREAMBLE.--The French Company, or such Company as it might designate, was given in April 1898 the right to construct a railway from the Tonquin frontier to Yunnan-fu, the course of the line and the necessary Regulations to be matters of further negotiation with China.
The French Government has designated the "Compagnie Française des Chemins de Fer de l'Indo-Chine et de Yünnan" as the constructors, and the course of the line has been examined by both Government and Company.
The following Regulations have accordingly been agreed upon between the Governments of France and China :
Article 1. The course of the line will be from Ho-k'ou (Laokai) through or near Mengizu to Yünnan-fu, but this course may be modified by arrangement.
Art. 2. A detailed plan of the projected line, showing stations and appurtenances generally, will be made in duplicate by the Company's engineers, one copy to be deposited with the Yunnan Government and one at the French Consulate-General. Temples, graves, and market gardens must be avoided as far as possible. Work will commence when all the ground thus indicated has been handed over.
Art. 3. The ground required will be, if State-owned, handed over at once; if private property, within six months, title-deeds after an approved model being issued in duplicate. The Company will set up boundary marks.
Art. 4. A service road, 2 to 3 metres wide, may be temporarily constructed, and rails laid along it.
Art. 5. Work will be begun from Ho-k'ou, but sheds may be put up at any point where bridges, tunnels, embankments, stations, or the rest are to be constructed.
Art. 6. The gauge will be 1 metre.
Art. 7. The line must not interfere with fortifications or other public works, or injuriously affect irrigation channels or canals.
Art. 8. Materials needed shall, if possible, be procured locally by the Company at market rates. Contracts may be registered at the yamêns.
Art. 9. Stone and earth can be taken after consultation free from State lands, but timber must be paid for. Private supplies of all the above must be matter for bargain.
Art. 10. Lands temporarily occupied, as for sheds, service roads, quarries, or the like, will be restored through the authorities to the owners on completion of the line.
Art. 11. Branch lines may be constructed after agreement made locally and at Peking.
Art. 12. Labourers shall be engaged in the first instance from Yunnan Province. All must be registered and paid fairly and regularly. Only in case the authorities cannot arrange reasonable terms shall non-Chinese be employed.
Art. 13. In case of sickness or accident among the Chinese employés, medical aid will be supplied or compensation given.
Art. 14. Justice will be administered, in the case of Chinese offenders, by the Chinese authorities*; in the case of Europeans, as the Treaties require.
Art. 15. A police force of Chinese, but commanded by Chinese or Europeans, may be enrolled to operate only along the line and among the workmen. Under no circumstances may European troops be employed.
Art. 16. Passports will be issued to all European employés.
Art. 17. Chinese names, which must not be changed, will be given to the European employés, whose transfers must be notified.
Art. 18. Residences for European employés must be rented only after notifying the authorities, who will keep a copy of the lease.
Art. 19. Private property must be respected and damages paid for.
Art. 20. Explosives may be imported, but solely for construction purposes and in strictly limited quantities; or they may be manufactured locally. A careful register must be kept, and must be inspected by the authorities monthly. Accidents, if the fault of the Company's employés, must be paid for.
Art. 21. Customs dues must be paid on goods carried. Imports that have paid import and transit duties are to be free of li-kin. Rates of duty will change with the tariff.
Art. 22. Free from duty will be machinery and other necessary gear; but all such must be declared at the first Chinese custom-house.
Art. 23. Rates for passengers and freights will be fixed by the Company. Chinese official despatches and the mails of the Imperial Chinese Post Office, with the officer in charge, will be conveyed free on the regular trains. A mail carriage may be rented from the Company at half-rates, or a special postal train run at fixed fares. Chinese troops and their supplies, or famine relief, will be carried at half-rates.
Art. 24. Salt, European troops, and contraband goods cannot be conveyed along the line when completed. In case of war, the line will be regarded as purely Chinese.
Art. 25. A yearly payment of 20 fr. per kilom., on all lines under construction or in working order, will be made by the Company to the authorities to cover cost of protection.
Art. 26. Guards, porters, &c., along the completed line must be Chinese only. They will be engaged through the village Elders and provided by the authorities with a pass.
Art. 27. Damages caused to persons or property by the fault of the Company's employés must be made good by the Company.
Art. 28. Schools for Chinese may be established at the Company's expense to provide interpreters and railwaymen. The pupils shall have first claim to employment.
Art. 29. Telegraph and telephone lines may be set up along the railway, but must be used for railway purposes only.
Art. 30. Matters in dispute must be settled between the provincial authorities and the French Consul-General, unless purely technical, when the engineers decide.
Art. 31. Chinese Delegates will be appointed to assist the railway officials in settling matters. Appeals will lie successively to the provincial authorities and the French Consul-General, and to the Chinese Government and the Minister for France.
Art. 32. A monthly payment of 4,450 taels will, pending completion of the works, be made by the Company for the salaries of the Chinese Delegates, police force, interpreters, and the rest.
Art. 33. The present Regulations will form the guide in all disputes.
Art. 34. Restoration of the road may be claimed by China after eighty years, on repayment of the loss, if any, incurred by the Company.
(Signed) G. DUBAIL, Minister of France.
(Signed) LIEN-FANG, Secretary to the Foreign Office, Peking, October 29, 1903.
Note.--Despatch from M. Dubail, dated the 28th October, 1903, to be attached to and form part of the above Agreement.
The Chinese Government or its subjects may purchase shares in the Company during the first year at price of issue, and subsequently at market rates, and the French Government will assist them in so doing.
(Translation.)
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Memorial by the Wai-wu Pu, dated October 29, 1903.
THE Wai-wu Pu have reverently prepared the following respectful Memorial on the Regulations concluded for the Yunnan Railway, which they humbly submit for their Majesties' perusal :
According to Article 5 of the Special Trade Convention between China and France of the 13th year of the Kuang-sü [1887], it is mutually agreed that the ...
Page 563
2
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum on the Franco-Chinese Agreement for the Yunnan Railway. Signed at
Peking, October 29, 1903.
1. Abstract of Agreement.
PREAMBLE.--The French Company, or such Company as it might designate, was given in April 1898 the right to construct a railway from the Tonquin frontier to Yunnan-fu, the course of the line and the necessary Regulations to be matters of further negotiation with China.
15
The French Government bas designated the "Compagnie Française des Chemins de Fer de l'Indo-Chine et de Yünnan as the constructors, and the course of the line has been examined by both Government and Company.
The following Regulations have accordingly been agreed upon between the Governments of France and China :---
Article 1. The course of the line will be from Ho-k'ou (Laokai) through or near Mengizu to Yünnan-fu, but this course may be modified by arrangement.
Art. 2. A detailed plan of the projected line, showing stations and appurtenances generally, will be made in duplicate by the Company's engineers, one copy to be deposited with the Yunnan Government and one at the French Consulate-General. Temples, graves, and market gardens must be avoided as far as possible. Work will commence when all the ground thus indicated has been handed over.
Art. 3. The ground required will be, if State-owned, handed over at once; if private property, within six months, title-deeds alter an approved model being issued in duplicate. The Company will set up boundary marks.
Art. 4. A service road, 2 to 3 metres wide, may be temporarily constructed, and rails laid along it.
Art. a. Work will be begun from Ho-k'ou, but sheds may be put up at any point where bridges, tunnels, embankments, stations, or the rest are to be constructed.
Art. 6. The gauge will be 1 metre.
Art. 7. The line must not interfere with fortifications or other public works, or injuriously affect irrigation channels or canals.
Art. 8. Materials needed shall, if possible, he procured locally by the Company at market rates. Contracts may be registered at the yamêns.
Art. 9. Stone and earth can be taken after consultation free from State lands, but timber must be paid for. Private supplies of all the above must be matter for bargain. Art. 10. Lands temporarily occupied, as for sheds, service roads, quarries, or the like, will be restored through the authorities to the owners on completion of the line.
Art. 11. Branch lines may be constructed after agreement urade locally and at Peking.
Art. 12. Labourers shall be engaged in the first instance from Yunnan Province. All must be registered and paid fairly and regularly. Only in case the authorities cannot arrange reasonable terms shall non-Chinese be employed.
Art. 13. In case of sickness or accident among the Chinese employés, medical aid will be supplied or compensation given.
Art. 14. Justice will be administered, in the case of Chinese offenders, by the Chinese authorities*; in the case of Europeans, as the Treaties require.
Art. 15. A police force of Chinese, but commanded by Chinese or Europeans, may be enrolled to operate only along the line and among the workmen. Under no circumstances may European troops be employed.
Art. 16. Passports will be issued to all European employés.
Art. 17. Chinese names, which must not be changed, will be given to the European employés, whose transfers must be notified.
Art. 18. Residences for European employés must be rented only after notifying the authorities, who will keep a copy of the loase.
Art. 19. Private property must be respected and damages paid for.
Art. 20. Explosives may be imported, but solely for construction purposes and in strictly limited quantities; or they may be manufactured locally. A careful register
* Hereinafter called "the authorities."
3
must be kept, and must be inspected by the authorities monthly. Accidents, if the fault of the Company's employés, must be paid for.
Art. 21. Customs dues must be paid on goods carried. Imports that have paid import and transit duties are to be free of li-kin. Rates of duty will change with the
tariff.
Art. 22. Free from duty will be machinery and other necessary gear; but all such must be declared at the first Chinese custom-house.
Art. 23. Rates for passengers and freights will be fixed by the Company. Chinese official desparchies and the mails of the Imperial Chinese Post Office, with the officer in charge, will be conveyed free on the regular trains. A mail carriage may be rented from the Company at half-rates, or a special postal train run at fixed fares. Chinese troops and their supplies, or famine relief, will be carried at half-
rates.
Art. 24. Salt, European troops, and contraband goods cannot be conveyed along the line when completed. In case of war, the line will be regarded as purely Chinese.
Art. 25. A yearly payment of 20 fr. per kilom., on all lines under construction or in working order, will be made by the Company to the authorities to cover cost of protection.
Art. 26. Guards, porters, &c., along the completed line must be Chinese only. They will be engaged through the village Elders and provided by the authorities with a pass.
Art. 27. Damages caused to persons or property by the fault of the Company's employés must be made good by the Company.
Art. 28. Schools for Chinese may be established at the Company's expense to provide interpreters and railwaymen. The pupils shall have first claim to employ-
ment.
Art. 29. Telegraph and telephone lines may be set up along the railway, but must be used for railway purposes only.
Art. 30. Matters in dispute must be settled between the provincial authorities and the French Consul-General, unless purely technical, when the engineers decide.
Art. 31. Chinese Delegates will be appointed to assist the railway officials in settling matters. Appeals will lie successively to the provincial authorities and the French Consul-General, and to the Chinese Government and the Minister for France.
Art. 32. A monthly payment of 4,450 taels will, pending completion of the works, be made by the Company for the salaries of the Chinese Delegates, police force, interpreters, and the rest.
Art. 33. The present Regulations will form the guide in all disputes. Art. 34. Restoration of the road may be claimed by China after eighty years, on repayment of the loss, if any, incurred by the Company.
(Signed) G. DUBAIL, Minister of France. (Signed) LIEN-FANG,
Secretary to the Foreign Office,
Peking, October 29, 1903.
Note.--Despatch from M. Dubail, dated the 28th October, 1903, to be attached to and form part of the above Agreement.
The Chinese Government or its subjects may purchase shares in the Company during the first year at price of issue, and subsequently at market rates, and the French Government will assist them in so doing,
(Translation.)
Inclosure 3 in No. 1,
Memorial by the Wai-wu Pu, dated October 29, 1903.
THE Wai-wn Pu have reverently prepared the following respectful Memorial on the Regulations concluded for the Yunnan Railway, which they humbly submit for their Majesties' perusal :
According to Article 5 of the Special Trade Convention between China and France of the 13th year of the Kuang-sü [1887], it is mutually agreed that the
563
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.