[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.j
C.0.
649
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
14492
[March 11.
SECTION : 24 APR 07.
[8010]
Sir,
No. 1.
The British and Chinese Corporation to Foreign Office.-(Received March 11.)
22, Abchurch Lane, London, March 8, 1907. ON the 25th January we submitted, for the information of Sir Edward Grey, some particulars which had reached us of the railway construction work which was being done by the Chekiang Bureau between Soochow and Kashing, and which we claimed contravention of our rights under the Soochow-Ningpo Railway Loan
was in Agreement.
Sir Edward Grey was so good as to acknowledge the receipt of this letter on the 6th February, and to inform us that a copy of our letter had been forwarded to His Majesty's Minister at Peking.
Sir Edward Grey was also pleased to communicate to us on the same day, for our confidential information, a copy of a despatch which had been received from His Majesty's Minister at Peking, dated the 12th December, 1906.
Until Sir Edward Grey has received further information from His Majesty's Minister at Peking, we do not expect any further reply from him on the subject, but as we have received through our agents in China a private and confidential report from Mr. A. H. Collinson, Chief Engineer of the Shanghae-Nanking Railway, on the Shanghae-Kashing Railway, we beg leave to submit a copy of the same for the infor- mation of Sir Edward Grey.
We are, &c. (Per the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited),
W. KESWICK, Chairman.
(Signed)
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Mr. Collinson to Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co.
(Private and Confidential.) Gentlemen,
Shanghae, January 23, 1907. YOU will have noticed in the papers accounts of the proceedings in connection with the turning of the first sod of the Shanghae-Kashing Railway on Monday last. A rough outline of the proposed route of the railway was given in yesterday's "Sin Wan Pao," a translation of which I handed to Mr. McKie yesterday afternoon.
The route described in the "Sin Wan Pao" has to some extent been confirmed b the private information I have been able to gather, and I am further informed that the survey is in active progress on the lines indicated, also that land acquisition has been commenced.
You will notice that it is proposed to extend the line from the Chekiang boundary to Hangchow, this part of the work being constructed by the Chekiang Railway Company.
I am reliably informed that another Chinese Railway Company is surveying a line from Soochow to Kashing, where it is also proposed to make a junction with the Shanghae Kashing-Hangchow line. If these proposals are allowed to mature, another route will be established by rail from Shanghac to Soochow (via Kashing) in direct competition with the Shanghao-Nanking Railway.
Putting aside the question of ignoring the existence of the Preliminary Agree- ment, dated the 13th May, 1898, for the construction and working of the railways from Soochow to Hangehow and Ningpo, provision for which has been made at considerable cost in constructing double-line works on the section of our railway from Shanghae to
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