CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907 — Page 629

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of which is enclosed, that he had informed his Japanese

colleague of the nature of our engagements with the

French.

10 with reference to the antepenultimate paragraph of

your letter I am to state that Sir E. Grey sees no rea-

son why French participation should make joint manage-

ment of the Hankow-Canton and Canton-Kowloon Railways

impossible, as the advantage which we possess in the

British Chairman having a casting vote would prevent

any adverse discrimination from being put into force

against us. In any arrangement moreover for joint

management of the two railways provision could doubt-

less be made for the due protection of the interests of.

Hongkong.

11

In these circumstances I am to express Sir E.

Grey's earnest hope that Lord Elgin will not maintain

his objections to the communication to the French Am-

bassador of the proposed Memorandum, the terms of which,

while in harmony with the engagement taken by His Majes-

ty's Government may possibly lead the French Government

to recede from their attitude rather than see the aban-

donment for the present of the scheme for the construc-

tion