2
British Government was alleged by the Chinese Minister in London to be weakening on the loan question. I requested him to tell his colleagues in the Wai-wu Pu that this information did not coincide with my own, and that they should not allow any sanguine report which the Chinese Minister may have sent to lead them into the belief that I was unsupported. Mr. Liang, without admitting that the Chinese Minister had actually encouraged them in such a belief, acknowledged that the impression had gained ground, and reiterated the view that it would be most unfortunate if we receded now. have little doubt, therefore, that the "private negotiations at Shanghac" of which we had heard were in fact Lord Li's pourpurlers in London, and that the Chinese Minister had been overestimating his chances of success in his telegraphic reports to Prince Ching.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
3
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Newspaper Extract.
THE CHEKIANG LOAN,
SO far as we in Peking can judge, the British Minister is still standing firm in the matter of the Chekiang loan, but a Chinese friend has just been in to tell me that a telegram has been received from the Chinese Minister in London to the effect that the "British Government are weakening on the loan question," and have in fact decided to withdraw it. Now the British and Chinese Corporation, though supported by the Minister as the Representative of his nationals, is not the British Government, and the Chinese Minister in London appears to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. Whether the Corporation is weakening, and whether this forms the grain of truth which is said to lie at the bottom of most rumours, I cannot say. To all appearances, things are as they were, which is a common condition in diplomatic matters in China.
Your Excellency,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Yuan Shih-k'ai,
Peking, December 3, 1907. I HAVE made such frequent representations to you on the railway question that it is with some diffidence that I revert to the subject, but there is one aspect of it to which I venture to draw your serious attention.
There is fortunately no longer any difference of opinion between your Excellency's Government and myself as regards the Agreement for the construction of the Soochow-Ningpo line, the terms of which are considered perfectly reasonable and fair on both sides. The Chinese Government is anxious to fulfil its undertaking to the British Government, but is deterred from doing so by the opposition of the gentry of Chekiang.
The struggle is therefore one between the Chinese Government and the Province of Chekiang, in which the issues are clearly defined. This struggle is being watched with anxious interest by foreign Powers and by the Chinese people, and whatever may be the result it cannot fail to have momentous consequences to China. It will decide whether railways are to be national or provincial undertakings, but it will do far more than this: it will largely determine whether China is to continue, as hitherto, to be one great united country under a Central Government at Peking, or to be divided into a number of loosely federated provinces, each of which is to arrogate to itself the duties and responsibilities which attach in all countries to the supreme authority of the State.
This is the problem which confronts the Chinese Government at present, and I cannot conceal from your Excellency the grave apprehensions which the situation is causing amongst foreigners generally. To them it bears an ominous resemblance to the events which preceded the Boxer troubles of 1900. The Central Government is again pursuing the temporizing policy which ended in the great catastrophe of that year and the disruptionist movement is gathering strength and assuming proportions which, if not firmly checked, may lead to the disintegration of the Empire. As one therefore who claims to be a sincere well-wisher of China and of the Chinese people, I venture to make this private appeal to your Excellency, and to invoke your powerful influence in putting an immediate stop to an agitation which threatens by its disregard of the expressed will of the Sovereign and its open defiance of the orders of the Central Government to lead to a state of anarchy in the Empire.
I avail, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
61
2
British Government was alleged by the Chinese Minister in London to be weakening on the loan question. I requested him to tell his colleagues in the Wai-wu Pu that this information did not coincide with my own, and that they should not allow any sanguine report which the Chinese Minister may have sent to lead them into the belief that I was unsupported. Mr. Liang, without admitting that the Chinese Minister had actually encouraged them in such a belief, acknowledged that the impression had gained ground, and reiterated the view that it would be most unfortunate if we receded now. have little doubt, therefore, that the "private negotiations at Shanghac" of which we had heard were in fact Lord Li's pourpurlers in London, and that the Chinese Minister had been overestimating his chances of success in his telegraphic reports to Prince Ching.
I have, &e.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
3
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Newspaper Extract.
THE CHEKIANG LOAN,
SO far as we in Peking can judge, the British Minister is still standing firm in the matter of the Chekiang loan, but a Chinese friend has just been in to tell me that a telegram has been received from the Chinese Minister in London to the effect that the "British Government are weakening on the loan question," and have in fact decided to withdraw it. Now the British and Chinese Corporation, though supported by the Minister as the Representative of his nationals, is not the British Government, and the Chinese Minister in London appears to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. Whether the Corporation is weakening, and whether this forms the grain of truth which is said to lie at the bottom of most rumours, I cannot say. To all appearances, things are as they were, which is a common condition in diplomatic matters in China.
Your Excellency,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Yuan Shih-k'ai,
Peking, December 3, 1907. I HAVE made such frequent representations to you on the railway question that it is with some diffidence that I revert to the subject, but there is one aspect of it to which I venture to draw your serious attention.
There is fortunately no longer any difference of opinion between your Excelleucy's Government and myself as regards the Agreement for the construction of the Soochow- Ningpo line, the terms of which are considered perfectly reasonable and fair on both sides. The Chinese Government is anxious to fulfil its undertaking to the British Government, but is deterred from doing so by the opposition of the gentry of Chekiang.
The struggle is therefore one between the Chinese Government and the Province of Chekiang, in which the issues are clearly defined. This struggle is being watched with anxious interest by foreign Powers and by the Chinese people, and whatever may be the result it cannot fail to have momentous consequences to China. It will decide whether railways are to be national or provincial undertakings, but it will do far more than this: it will largely determine whether China is to continue, as hitherto, to be one great united country under a Central Government at Peking, or to be divided into a number of loosely federated provinces, each of which is to arrogate to itself the duties and responsibilities which attach in all countries to the supreme authority of the State.
This is the problem which confronts the Chinese Government at present, and I cannot conceal from your Excellency the grave apprehensions which the situation is causing amongst foreigners generally. To them it bears an ominous resemblance to the events which preceded the Boxer troubles of 1900. The Central Government is again pursuing the temporizing policy which ended in the great catastrophe of that year and the disruptionist movement is gathering strength and assuming proportions which, if not firmly checked, may lead to the disintegration of the Empire. As one therefore who claims to be a sincere well-wisher of China and of the Chinese people, I venture to make this private appeal to your Excellency, and to invoke your powerful influence in putting an immediate stop to an agitation which threatens by its disregard of the expressed will of the Sovereign and its open defiance of the orders of the Central Government to lead to a state of anarchy in the Empire.
I avail, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
61
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