CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 271

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divided. They have also ordered the Chinese mer-

chant Liu Te-yüan and the Portuguese merchant Botel-

ho, on the signature of this agreement by the two

Plenipotentiaries, to meet and draw up a preliminary

agreement, which they shall then hand in to the Chi-

nese Director General of Railways for his examina-

tion.

The conditions on which the Chinese Government

give their consent to the formation of a Chinese-

Portuguese Railway Company are as follows:

(I) The entire construction of the railway be-

tween Canton and Macao shall be jointly undertaken

by Chinese and Portuguese merchants having an equal

share in the capital and an equal voice in the đi-

rection of affairs. The Head Office for controll-

ing the traffic on this railway shall be established

at Macao, with branch offices in Kuangtung.

The

title of the company shall be the Chinese-Portu-

guese Railway Company." As the company is to be

jointly managed by Chinese and Portuguese merchants,

no matters connected therewith shall be made a pretext

for interference on the part of the Portuguese Govern-

ment.

(II) The company shall always be under the sole

management of Chinese and Portuguese subjects. Any

infringement of this condition gives China the right

to cancel the agreement authorizing the construction

of the railway.

(III) The capital required for the construction

of the railway shall be subscribed equally by Chinese

and Portuguese;

half of the shares shall be issued

to the former and half to the latter. But in the

Portuguese half of the capital will be included the

shares taken up by Portuguese merchants residing in

Macao and by those naturalized in other countries.

The company shall draw up a preliminary agreement as

a basis for the management of all matters connected

with the company. This agreement must state clearly

that Chinese and Portuguese merchants are on exactly

the same footing as regards the number of shares to be

no

issued

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