CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907 — Page 334

333

9.

The French, having brought matters to

this pass by departing from the terms of the

original arrangement, now propose that the

British should give up part of the advantages

offered to them by the Chinese undertaking

of September 1905, abandoning in favour of the

French all claim to make the loan required for

the southern section, and contenting them-

selves with the indifferent prospect of obtain-

ing the loans for the Hupei and Hunan sections

10. Lord Elgin takes decided exception

to this proposal, which in the circumstances

seems to him to be peculiarly unreasonable.

Morcover the suggestion that the southern sec-

tion should be built by French capital is

especially objectionable. For the terms of tho

undertaking of September 1905 are apparently

well known in China; the French could, and

probably would, claim the application of its

provisions to themselves, and the Hong Kong

Government