CO129-345 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907 — Page 91

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.j

CHINA TRADE.

CONFIDENTIAL.

(27261]

C. O. 33136

[August 26.]

RECO

SECTION 1.

REGE 16 SEP 07.

No. 1.

(No. 175.) Sir,

Sir Edward Grey to Sir C. MacDonald.

Foreign Office, August 26, 1907. I TRANSMIT to your Excellency herewith copies of correspondence which has recently passed between this Office, His Majesty's Minister at Peking, the Board of Trade, and the China Association, relative to the alleged discrimination in railway rates on the South Manchurian Railway, whereby Tairen (Dalny) is favoured at the expense of Newchwang.

The attention of this Office having been called to the matter, the views of the Board of Trade were obtained. You will observe that in their letter of the 13th instant the Board are of opinion that the Japanese Government should be approached in order to ascertain whether anything can be done towards more nearly equalizing conditions.

In informing the Board that the matter would be brought to your Excellency's notice, it was pointed out to them that the remarks on the point made by Baron Goto, President of the Railway, as reported in Inclosure No. 2 of Sir J. Jordan's despatch No. 274 of the 10th June last, are of an ambiguous nature. They may be understood to mean either (a) that the freight charges per mile will be equal, or again they may be taken to indicate merely (6) that while the total freight charge to Mukden from Newchwang and Dalny respectively will be the same, for all places beyond Mukden there would be a reduced rate in favour of Dalny. If the former interpretation is the correct one, the complaint of the China Association would be groundless; if the second, then there would appear to be some ground for representing the matter to the Japanese Government.

I request, therefore, that your Excellency will ascertain from the Japanese authorities exactly what is intended in the matter. You are at the same time authorized, at your discretion, to express to the Japanese Government the hope that the total rates from Darien to Mukden and elsewhere in Manchuria will be so arranged that Newchwang will be placed on an equal footing with that port.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

E. GREY.

*Sir J. Jordan, No. 274, June 10 (and inclosures); China Association, June 25; to Board of Trade, July 10; Board of Trade, August 13; to Board of Trado, August 28, 1907.

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