[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[January 25.]
SECTION 3,
[2700]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 25, 1908.)
(No. 565.) Sir,
Peking, December 6, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copies of a correspondence which has passed between the Governor of Hong Kong and myself on the subject of projected railway lines, the construction of which might be held to be at variance with Article 15 of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement.
I agree with His Majesty's Consul-General at Canton, from whom I have the honour to inclose a report on the subject, that there is no ground for seriously believing that the Chinese Government will attempt to build a parallel line to the Canton-Kowloon Railway from Canton to Sheklung, a distance of some 50 miles; but it is possible that an effort may be made to connect Canton with Whampoa by railway and convert the latter into a port for sea-going vessels as the terminus of the trunk line to Hankow.
This is doubtless the contingency which the Hong Kong Government wishes to avert and I am not sure how far Article 15 of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement will enable us to defeat such a project should it be seriously entertained by the Chinese Government. In the negotiations which led up to the Agreement, the point was frequently elaborated, but the provision of the Article is all that could in the end be extracted from the Chinese Government and it would, I fear, be hopeless to obtain any further undertaking from them at the present juncture. A line to Whampoa which formed a continuation of a trunk line from Hankow would undoubtedly be detrimental to the interests of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, but in their present temper both the Central and Provincial Governments will resent our utilizing a Railway Agreement with a private Corporation whose interests are not appreciably affected, except as trustees for the bondholders, as a means of preventing them from developing a natural outlet on their own territory which experts seem to consider more conveniently situated than Hong Kong.
These and other considerations arising out of the present anti-railway agitation in China make me reluctant to raise the question until it is forced upon us in a practical form.
I have, &c. (Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Governor Sir F. Lugard to Sir J. Jordan, dated November 8, 1907.
[Already printed: see Colonial Office of December 18, 1907.]
Sir,
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Governor Sir F. Lugard.
Peking, December 2, 1907. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 8th November, 1907, inclosing translation of a Chinese newspaper extract relative to the scheme of Cheung Pat-sz for developing the port of Whampoa, which proposal is said to be based on the assumption that the Canton-Amoy Railway will take the same route to Canton as the Kowloon-Canton Railway.
I have also received a copy of His Majesty's Consul-General's reply to your Excellency on this subject, dated the 13th November, 1907, and am inclined to agree
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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[January 25.]
SECTION 3,
[2700]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 25, 1908.)
(No. 565.) Sir,
Peking, December 6, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copies of a correspondence which has passed between the Governor of Hong Kong and myself on the subject of projected railway lines, the construction of which might be held to be at variance · with Article 15 of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement.
I agree with His Majesty's Consul-General at Canton, from whom I have the honour to inclose a report on the subject, that there is no ground for seriously believing that the Chinese Government will attempt to build a parallel line to the Canton-Kowloon Railway from Canton to Sheklung, a distance of some 50 miles; but it is possible that an effort may be made to connect Canton with Whampoa by railway and convert the latter into a port for sea-going vessels as the terminus of the trunk line to Hankow.
This is doubtless the contingency which the Hong Kong Government wishes to avert and I am not sure how far Article 15 of the Canton-Kowloon Railway Agreement will enable us to defeat such a project should it be seriously entertained by the Chinese Government. In the negotiations which led up to the Agreement, the point was frequently elaborated, but the provision of the Article is all that could in the end be extracted from the Chinese Government and it would, I fear, be hopeless to obtain any further undertaking from them at the present juncture. A line to Whampoa which formed a continuation of a trunk line from Hankow would undoubtedly be detrimental to the interests of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, but in their present temper both the Central and Provincial Governments will resent our utilizing a Bailway Agreement with a private Corporation whose interests are not appreciably affected, except as trustees for the bondholders, as a means of preventing them from developing a natural outlet on their own territory which experts seem to consider more conveniently situated than Hong Kong.
These and other considerations arising out of the present anti-railway agitation in China make me reluctant to raise the question until it is forced upon us in a practical
form.
I have, &c. (Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Governor Sir F. Lugard to Sir J. Jord n, dated November 8, 1907.
[Already printed: see Colonial Office of December 18, 1907.]
Sir,
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Governor Sir F. Lugard.
Peking, December 2, 1907. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 8th November, 1907, inclosing translation of a Chinese newspaper extract relative to the scheme of Cheung Pat-sz for developing the port of Whampoa, which proposal is said to be based on the assumption that the Canton-Amoy Railway will take the same route to Canton as the Kowloon-Canton Railway.
I have also received a copy of His Majesty's Consul-General's reply to your Excellency on this subject, dated the 13th November, 1907, and am inclined to agree
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85
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