CO129-335 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [8-10] — Page 180

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ion, the Corporation was not called upon to incur responsibility or to

nder services in respect of construction, and that payment of commission

was therefore inadmissable. In the case of goods imported from Great

Britain he thought the usual trade commission might be paid to the Cormora

tion as agents, but nothing more.

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Mr. Blend stated that on such terms no agreement could be concluded

the proposal amourted to limiting the business of the Corporation to

the financing of the loss, and ignored not only the preliminary agreement,

but the rights and benefits originally granted to the Corporation in

1898 viz. the right to construct and eoulo the railway on behalf of and

for, the Chinese Government. The Directors of the Corporation could not

egree to such an essential departure from the Nanking Loan conditions,

involving acceptance of terms far less favourable then those in every

other Feilway loan and construction agreement hitherto made by the Imper-

ial Government. The bailway, according to the terms of the Concession

granted, was a joint enterprise in which the good name and success of the

Corporation were directly concerned, to produce results satisfactory to

the Chinese Government: in this, as well as in the nomination of an

efficient and capable Engineer-in-Chief, the Corporation incurred direct

responsibility and rendered services to the Chinese Government and to the

bondholders for which in common fairness and by established usage they

were properly entitled to commission. The Corooration had consented to

the principle that no commission should hereafter be charged on Chinese

products locally ourchased, but the present proposal was equivalent to cancelling the Corporation's construction rights. The Viceroy's proposals

on this subject were based on a fair view of the matter, and it was to

be hoped that they would be adhered to. The Viceroy had inserted the

clause that, on equal terms, British materials should be used, but the

proposal to pay commission on these goods only was in itself equivalent to

8 oremior on non-Eritish competition.

H.E. T'anz Shao-vi cited the Northern Failways precedent es that

which should be adopted. Mr. Bland pointed out that no construction rights, but only financial errangements, were negotiated under that agree- ment, which dealt with a railway already in existence. In the present

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