CO129-333 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [1-4] — Page 348

sla:

on.

Enclosu34 No 3 to Sund Dumpiht of $/2/06

RECE

C.O.

12360

REGE 7 APR 061

Canton, 30 January, 1908.

Consul-General to Viceroy.

Your Excellency,

A 345

I beg to refer Your Excellency to your letter of the 6th

instant, in which you claim that the concession for the Canton-

Kowloon Railway, as negotiated between Director-General Sheng of

the Railway Administration and the Representative of Hesars

Jardine Matheson & Co. and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking

Corporation, is merely a Draft Agreement and has not the binding

effect of a regular contract. Your Excellency further claims that

under the last article of the Agreement, which provides for

certain possible arrangements in connection with local conditions

you are free to alter the Agreement.

+

In reply, I heg to state that I duly communicated your

letter to R. H. Minister and to the Governor of Hongkong. I am

now in receipt of an answer from the Governor, requesting me to

point out to Your Excellency with regard to your first claim

that this Agreement was accepted by the Tsung-11 Yamen and H. M.

Minister at the time; that it was duly ratified hy Imperial Edict;

and consequently that the Viceroy of Canton cannot deny that it is

a regular contract, nor ignore its terms.

7ith regard to Your Excelleney's further claim under Article

5 of the Agreement, the Governor begs to point out that the

arrangements and amendments in questionrefer merely to the local

conditions and difficulties which may arise in the construction

of the line; these were to he modified za circumstances arose.

Accordingly, the Governor of Hongkong contends that Your

Excellency has no justification to disregard or annul this Agree-

-ment.

I avail, etc.,

Card of Consul General.