CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 12

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ascertain confidentially whether Sheng desired to

undertake the negotiations for a final agreement,

but the latter let it be known that he would say

nothing on the subject until he was approached of-

ficially, and the question had therefore been left

in abeyance.

As the draft loan agreement together with the

draft proposed agreement between the Government of

Hongkong and the Chinese Government for the joint

working of the line between Canton and Port Kowloon

are long legal documents, the import of which is not

to be gathered from a hasty perusal, I requested Mr.

Ross to furnish me with an outline of the proposals

of which he is the bearer; this I could have put into

Chinese, and I would then discuss with the Foreign

Board the choice of a negotiator. I think it might

possibly be found easier to come to an agreement with

the Viceroy of Canton than with Sheng Kung-pao, but

the question must largely depend on the view taken

by the Foreign Board.

There are two points in the proposed agreement

for joint working which call for remark.

Paragraph 3 (page 38) provides that the con-

struction of the two sections shall proceed simul-

taneously and at such a rate of progress as to be

completed and ready to be open at the same time. Mr.

Ross informs me however that the 101 miles or there-

abouts from Canton to the frontier of the leased

territory would take about two years to build while

the British portion from Port Kowloon, measuring 24

miles, could not be constructed in much under four

years owing to the difficult nature of the ground,

which will require a good deal of tunnelling.

Possi-

bly the Chinese portion might take a little longer

and the British portion a little less than was at

present estimated, but there would certainly be a

considerable difference in the time required for the

two.

This statement has an important bearing on para-

graph 16 which provides for the division of the net

profits in proportion to the actual cost incurred by

the two Governments, in which outlay the cost of land

for

and

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