CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 372

in the Chinese end, while China would have no voice

whatever in the Hongkong part of the line.

Mr. Campbell took him through the Chinese text

of Article I of the Preliminary Agreement and point-

ed out that it did not bear out his interpretation

and that it contained nothing at variance with the

two draft agreements, the object of which in any

case was to bring the whole line from Canton to Kow-

loon under one administration,

The Hongkong Government

proposed to build their section themselves with their

own money, and as it passed through their own terri-

tory they naturally had all the say in regard to it:

the Chinese portion was to be built by the British

and Chinese Corporation with money borrowed from that

Corporation.

Sheng kung pao did not appear to wish to listen

to much refutation of his arguments but went on to

complain of the way in which he had been treated by

the British and Chinese Corporation in the matter of

the Shanghai-Nanking Railway Agreement, which was the

model of the Corporation's draft agreement in the

present case. He had negotiated that agreement with

365

Mr. Brenan, an old friend, who had gone to England

after the signature, leaving details unsettled.

There was delay over these, and finally because he

was asked by me through Sir Pelham Warren (an old

friend) to let the details stand over and allow the

issue of the loan for market reasons, he had agreed

and the loan was issued. That was a long time since

and two important details which should have been

settled months ago in accordance with the terms of

the Loan Agreement were still unsettled. One was

the regulation for the guidance of the Board of Com-

missioners, and the other the contract of the Engineer

in Chief. As to the first, after long discussion,

Regulations had been agreed upon which Mr. Henry

Keswick in Shanghai said had to go home for approval

to the head office in London. To hasten this ap-

proval Sheng kung pao wrote a letter at the time,

seven or eight months ago, to Mr. W. Keswick (also

an old friend) and had received a satisfactory reply,

yet nothing was done. It was the same sort of delay

in regard to the contract of the Engineer-in-Chief,

Mr.

Mr.