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obtain this it would probably enable him to secure the
contract for the Canton Section, and that in turn would
probably enable him to get a contract for a part at least
of the Canton-Hankow Railway. With these ulterior objects
in view
objects in which of course I entirely sympathis-
-ed, since I could wish for nothing more satisfactory than
to see these lines in British hands he intimated that
his Firm would probably be able to offer terms which
would be unusually advantageous for it would be to their
interest to secure our contract even at a small pecuniary
loss, and at any rate with a minimum of profit. I carefully
considered the matter and came to the conclusion that in
the first place it was doubtful whether by securing our
contract Paulings would improve their chances of getting
the Canton contract. It was even possible that it might
militate against these chances. In the second place assum-
-ing that all difficulties of detail were met, the contract
could only be a partial one, since we are not yet in a
position to offer the Terminal Station, Workshops &c.,
to
contract, and shall not be able to decide regarding these
until the preliminaries of the Working Agreement are
settled. The Colony could not therefore feel that finality
had been reached with respect to financial liabilities,
even
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