CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 399

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

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

C.0.

[November 23394

REC SECTION

-209 JAN 08

397

****

1

21-755

[39249]

No. 1.

Chinese Engineering and Mining Company to Foreign Office.-(Received November 29.)

Sir,

22, Austin Friars, London, November 27, 1907. REFERRING to my letter of the 27th June last on the subject of a Rescript which had been issued by Yuen Chi Kai, then Viceroy of the province of Chihli purporting to grant to a Chinese Company certain mining rights in the Kaiping Basin, over which this Company claims exclusive rights, I am instructed by my Board to send you the following statement in support of this Company's position.

By a Deed dated the 19th February, 1901, the "Chinese Engineering and Mining Company Tien-tsin," which will hereafter be called the "Chinese Company," represented by Chang Yen Mao and by Gustav Detring, two of its Directors, transferred to "The Chinese Engineering and Mining Company (Limited)," which will be called the

· English Company "all its assets, and amongst others--

K

"All the lands, mines and coalfield commonly known as the Estate Kaiping Coalfield situate in the Province of Chihli aforesaid, and including all the mines and seams of coal and minerals geologically connected with the mines and seams of coal known at Tongshan, Hse-Shan, Pan Pe Tien, Ma Chia Kau, Wu Shui Chwang, Chao Ko Chwang, and Linsi, and the exclusive right to search and mine for coal and minerals within the area and coalfield aforesaid, and all other rights and privileges enjoyed in connection therewith, and all other the interest of the said Chinese Engineering and Mining Company, therein."

Chang Yen Mao executed this Deed, not only as Director of the Chinese Company; but also in the capacity of Director-General of the Imperial Administration of all the mines of the Province of Chihli and Jehol, and the Deed bears the official seals of the Chinese Company and of the Director-General of Mines of the Province of Chihli and Jehol.

*

The English Company has therefore, in virtue of the Deed of Transfer (Annexure No. 1), exclusive rights over the whole of the Kaiping Basin.

Tien-tsin In the twelfth month of the 32nd year of Kuang Hsu (1907) the Government Bank" received from the Viceroy of Petchihli, Yuen Chi Kai, an order to prepare a proposal for raising capital for the purpose of exploiting coal-mines in the district of Luan Chow, situated in the Kaiping Basin,

The "Fieu-tsin Government Bank" prepared a Memorial (Annexure No. 2)- proposing the opening of workings at Ma Chia Kau, which is one of the places specifically mentioned in the Deed of Transfer (Annexure No. 1). The reason given for the proposal was to supply coal to the Chinese Government, aud the petitioners therefore asked the Viceroy to depart in their favour from the general Mining Regulations, in virtue of which Mining Concessions must not exceed 30 li square. As a result of this Petition, and of a supplementary Petition (Annexure No. 3), which was presented by the Bank, the Viceroy issued a Decree (Annexure No. 4) purporting to grant the right to open a colliery at Ma Chia Kau, the area conceded being of a considerably greater extent than. the 30 li fixed in the Mining Regulations. The terms of this Concession would cover the whole of the Kaiping Coal Basin, with the exception of the lands comprised within a radius of 10 li from Tongshan and 6 li around Linsi, which the Decree reserves to the English Company. (Sec map annexed under No. 5.)

It is important to note that the Tien-tsin Government Bank in its supplementary Petition (Annexure No. 3) recognizes the rights of the English Company in the neighbourhood of Tongshan and Linsi. After describing the extent of the Concession which they solicit, they add :--

"No objection can be made to this because the 10- rule was not laid down in the case of Linsi, and therefore, under the Government Regulations they (the English Company) are only entitled to 30 square li of territory, which is a perfectly fair and just arrangement."

[2732 ƒ—2]

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