CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 582

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's fovernment.]-

42559 [November 18.1

SECTION 3.

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[Pica]

Enelis in No. 1.

Sir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne,—(Received November 18.)

575

(No. 329.) My Lord,

Peking, October 5, 1905. WITH reference to my telegram of the 21st September, and in continuation of my despatches Nos. 312 and 314 of the same date, I have the honour to inclose notes of my conversation with Prince Ch'ing on the subject of the Canton-Hankow and Soochow-Ningpo Railways.

As your Lordship will observe, the Prince evaded giving a categorical reply, sheltering himself under the assumed obligation of consulting the Viceroy of Canton in regard to the former of these, while, in auswer to my reference to the engagements given by the Chinese Government to my predecessor in 1898 (see “China No. 1, 1899," pp. 287-289), he said he must refresh his memory by reperusing the documents. Those assurances were to the effect that concessions should be granted to British capitalists to build both the railways in question (besides others) on terms not inferior to those granted to the Belgian Société d'Etudes for the Peking-Hankow line.

With reference to the Soochow Ningpo Railway, I beg to inclose translation of Prince Ch'ing's reply to the note inclosed in my despatch No. 314. From this it will be seen that the Chinose Government assert the necessity of the local authorities ascertaining whether or no there are difficulties in regard to the construction of the railway before negotiations are entered upon. But both the English and Chinese texts confirm the view that the difficulties referred to are purely local ones, such as the question which would be the best track to follow, or the removal of graves-not such a fundamental question as that involved in the pretension now put forward that, as the native gentry and capitalists of the provinces are willing to build the railway, the British and Chinese Corporation's rights under the preliminary Agreement are, ipso facto, done away with.

I propose in a few days to return to the charge either by arguing the whole question with Natung or addressing an official note to the Prince recapitulating what I said to him at our interview. It will be necessary, however, to leave him sufficient time to obtain some kind of replies from the Viceroy of Canton and the Governor of Chekiang.

Copies of this despatch and its inclosures will be sent to the Governor of Hong Kong and to His Majesty's Consul-General at Shanghae.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

ERNEST SATOW,

-Inclosure in No. 1-

Conversation between Sir E. Satow and Prince Ching · on September 28, 1905, respecting

the Canton-Kowloon and Soochow-Ningpo Railways.

SIR E. SATOW summarized the course of the correspondence between himself and the Wai-wu Pu in regard to their railway. As long as six months before he had communicated a Memorandum of proposals to the Wai-wu Pu, and up to the present his requests for the appointment of a negotiator to carry out the terms of the preliminary agreement were answered by statements that the local people wished to build the line themselves. That was no reply to give to a plain request for the fulfilment of a written contract.

The Prince understood that the Cantonese wished to build their section just as the Hong Kong Government wished to build theirs. The Wai-wu Pu were in correspondence with the Viceroy on the subject. It was not one in which the Wai-wu Pu could use compulsion; they could not force the Viceroy and say he must do this or that, regardless of his own opinion or the feeling of the Cantonese.

[2248 s-3]