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Excellency agreed, adding that your Excellency was a man of action, and would see that there was no procrastination.
I have now the honour to inform your Excellency that His Britannic Majesty's Minister concurs in the course suggested, and that I am prepared to visit Taiyuantu at the invitation of the officials of Shansi, to arrive at a settleinent of this troublesome and protracted business. It is understood that your Excellency and your Excellency s colleagues will also make every effort to this end. Meantime, I shall be grateful if your Excellency will favour me with an occasional letter to say how matters are progressing.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
GEORGE BROWN,
Agent-General.
Inclosure 7 in No. 1.
REPORT of au Interview between Mr. G. Brown, Agent-General, Peking Syndicate (Limited), and his Excellency Ting Pao Chuan, ex-Provincial Judge of Shansi, held at the Residence of the latter in the Yang Jou Hutung, West City, Peking, on the 23rd May, 1907. There were also present Mr. Yung, of the Pei Yang Mint, Tien-tsin, who acted as his Excellency Ting's Interpreter, and Dr. Gatrell.
THE introductions and usual greetings having been exchanged, his Excellency Ting stated that he had that morning told to Mr. Yung his views regarding the matter of the Syndicate and Shansi and Mr. Yung was requested to make them known. Mr. Yung thereupon stated that his Excellency had been instructed by the Wai-wu Pu to meet with Mr. Brown and that his Excellency was most anxious to talk matters over with the object of effecting a settlement. His Excellency wished to emphasize two points :-
First, that according to the terms of the Agreement the Peking Syndicate was requested by the Shansi Bureau of Trade to undertake on its behalf mining operations in Shansi; that the Agreement in several places stipulated that this Bureau and the Syndicate were to co-operate, and the non-compliance with these stipulations on the part of the Syndicate was responsible for the altitude of antagonism displayed by the gentry of Shansi.
Secondly, the claim of 2007. a-day as compensation for the delay in issuing the permit was considered by the gentry to be so unreasonable that they were unwilling to have anything whatever to do with the Syndicate, and Mr. Brown was asked whether he could withdrawn this claim.
Mr. Brown replied that this matter was in the hands of the British Government and His Majesty's Minister and he could not withdraw it, and his Excellency was informed that last year Mr. Brown had met with some Shansi gentry at the Wai-wu Pu in the presence of five of its Ministers, at which time matters were discussed and the permit promised. His Excellency replied that among the gentry with whom Mr. Brown met there was not one who had anything to do with the Shansi Bureau of Trade, that the promises made by the Wai-wu Pu were not recognized by this Bureau, and that it was absolutely essential that the Syndicate and the Bureau of Trade, who had drifted far apart, should come together again, for the terms of the Agreement explicitly stated that they should act in consultation. "There is no hope of a settlement," his Excellency said, "so long as the Syndicate held to its position with regard to the claim of 2001. a-day compensation." Mr. Brown contended that, seeing that the Syndicate was being prevented from enjoying its rights under the Agreement, the claim could not be withdrawn. His Excellency then said that he was anxious to bring, about a settlement, and he explained that he was now in a very different position from that of a few days ago when Dr. Gatrell called in, that now he was acting under instructions from the Wai-wu Pu; while at that time, having given up his seals of office, he dared not take any steps for fear of arcusing suspicion in the minds of the officials of the Bureau of Trade and the people of Shansi, which would inevitably render abortive any plaus he has for bringing about a settlement. Mr. Brown assured his Excellency that he was anxious for a settlement, and his Excellency was asked to give his ideas as to what he considered might serve as a basis. His Excellency, pointing to a copy of the Agreement, replied, Just proceed in accordance with the Agreement," and followed this by saying that the Syndicate must get into touch with the Bureau of Trade. Mr. Brown replied by saying that the Syndicate throughout the protracted negotiations insisted upon nothing
more than that the terms of the Agreement should be carried out. His Excellency was reminded that the Syndicate had strictly observed the terms of the Agreement in that, after having sent engineers to prospect, maps of a certain area had been forwarded with explanations to the Governor and à permit applied for, but that no reply had been received. His Excellency then stated that after the receipt of the map and letter the Governor had sent an official to examine and report upon the area specified in the application for the permit. The report, which stated that there were objections to the opening of mines in the area, was duly forwarded to the Wai-wu Pu. Mr. Brown stated this had not been communicated to the Peking Syndicate, whereupon his Excellency promised to have the original despatch copied and forwarded on the following day to Mr. Brown for perusal.
Mr. Brown asked, "If there are objections to the opening in this arca, how is it that more than 100 mines, 26 of which belong to the Lu Kuang Kung Ssu, have been recently opened by natives ?" His Excellency replied that no such number had been opened, and that in any case no one could prevent natives from opening mines on their own land. Mr. Brown observed that these mining operations had official sanction, and that their cominencement coincided with the application for the permit. This elicited a remark from his Excellency Ting to the cffect that while the Agreement stipulated a time limit of sixty years, it made no mention of a date from which this period was to be reckoned. Mr. Brown informed his Excellency that when he met with the Shansi gentry at the Wai-au Pu he was asked when the sixty years commenced, and he bad replied "from the date of the issue of the permit." And it was pointed out that it was subsequent to this meeting that the permit had been promised, from which it was to be inferred that the time mentioned was accepted. Mr. Brown also called his Excellency's attention to the fact that the Agreement did not state that the Bureau of Trade was to be consulted in connection with the application for the permit, and he held that con- sultations with this bureau were only called for in the details of actual operations. Honan was cited in illustration, With this view his Excellency did not agree, and he repeated his former statement that no settlement was possible apart from co-operation with the Shansi Bureau of Trade. His Excellency then thanked Mr. Brown for his kindness in coming to see him in Peking, and stated that having seen that Mr. Brown was inclined to deal with matters in a just and amicable manner, he had hopes that some suggestions he had to make would be favourably received. His Excellency then asked Mr. Brown to temporarily waive the claim for indemnity so that he might be able to write to Mr. Liu of the Shansi Bureau of Trade and represent the Syndicate was taking up a conciliatory attitude. To this Mr. Brown replied that although he could not promise to take this matter out of the bands of the British Government, he could assure his Excellency that the claim would disappear as soon as a settlement was reached. "The Syndicate," said Mr. Brown, "has not acted uureasonably so far, and will not act unreasonably in the future. It does not claim both its rights under the Agreement, and the 2001. a day as well. As soon as a settlement has been agreed upon and the permit granted, the claim for compensation will naturally disappear.
His Excellency expressed his satisfaction with this reply, and then put forward bis second suggestion, which was, that Mr. Brown, either alone or with Dr. Gatrell, should go to Taiyuanfu for a Conference, provided that his Excellency's letter to Mr. Liu was favourably received, and that his Excellency returned to Shansi, after a month's home leave, to make proper arrangements for protection accommodation, &c., &c. Mr. Brown expressed his willingness to go, provided that there was hope of the visit resulting in a His settlement and he could obtain permission from the British Minister to do so." Excellency replied that he would not pressume to request Mr. Brown to go unless there was hope of a good result, and Mr. Brown was asked to trust his Excellency's word in this matter. Mr. Brown then asked his Excellency when he was to start for home, and his Excellency replied in about a week, and added that this meant that the arrange- ments for Mr. Brown's visit might be complete in about two months. Mr. Brown then again repeated his statement regarding the disappearance of the claim for compensation as soon as a settlement was agreed upon, and with this the interview terminated,
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