CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 343

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Within a very short time, possibly is a few days, we shall hear of the resignation of Prince Ching. For years he has amassed wealth by the sale of office; every important appointment has passed through his hands, and he has been the centre and focus of Chinese corruption. It is thought that his place, as President of the Grand Council and Prime Minister of China, will be filled by Prince Su; and, with his appointment, it is really not too much to hope that we shall see the end of the old corrupt state of things.

The simple fact, indeed, that the Prince Regent is known to be the enemy of everything in the shape of bribery, has already had its effect, and it may interest you to know au incident which came under my notice to-day. Shanghae remitted to us a sum of 1,000 taels, paid in by the Shanghae Taotai, and payable to Liang Tun-yen. We sent Liang Tun-yen our credit order for the amount, with an advice, and he has returned we are, there- it with a message that the payment is "not in accordance with custom; fore, requested to send the money back to Shanghae, and he (Liang) will write to the Shanghae Taotai direct on the subject. The money is of course a new year's bribe; and, although I do not think Liang would have accepted it in any case, his manner of sending it back seems to me significant.

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These views place me, as a foreigner, in a small minority; one cannot, in fact, at the present stage pretend to have views, they are only impressions, and may prove to be entirely wrong. Others will tell you that this "dropping of the pilot" is an unmitigated blunder on the part of the headstrong Young Manchu party, that Yuan was the only strong man capable of guiding China in a definite policy, and that his removal is the result of Japanese intrigue and bribery, which aims at keeping China weak. Time only will show who is right.

Yours very truly,

(Signed) E. G. HILLIER.

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

0.

341 5085

RECE [January 93 FEC 09

CHINA RAILWAYS.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[1019]

No. 1.

SECTION 1.

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received January 9, 1909.) (No. 534.) Sir,

Peking, November 25, 1908. MR. BLAND confirmed on the 12th November the information given to me by his Excellency Liang Shih-yi, as reported at the close of my despatch No. 509 of the 11th November, to the extent that Mr. Foord had been given authority by the Managing Director to engage five British engineers for the Soochow-Ningpo Railway, but stated that Mr. Foord was only in a position to exercise the duties of Engineer-in-chief on the section south of Hangchow, that his Agreement was still unsigued, and that the Kiangsu Bureau entirely disregarded him.

I sent Mr. Campbell to the Board of Communications to convey this information to his Excellency Liang Shih-yi, who said that he would telegraph orders for the signature of the Agreement; insisted that Mr. Foord, being duly appointed under the Loan Agreement, was naturally the Chief Engineer for the whole line and not for a section, and suggested that difficulties created by the Kiangsu Railway Bureau need not be viewed seriously as they would be gradually removed. Mr. Campbell pointed out that the terms of Mr. Foord's Agreement as known to us were objectionable and should be revised, and that it was a perfectly simple matter for the Board of Communications to see that the Chief Engineer exercised his functions over the entire railway, and to prevent the obstruction of the Kiangsu Bureau, which had been going on for months without serious check.

I called at the Wai-wu Pu on the 13th November and went over the whole situation, which I gave the Minister present to understand could not be allowed to continue without serious detriment to China's credit. It was an unheard of condition of affairs. The Central Government borrowed 1,500,0001, for a specified purpose, and because of the opposition of some provincial gentry and officials, the money was left idle and the Imperial Government were laid open to the charge of violating a solemn Agreement.

I was assured that there was no doubt whatever that the Loan Agreement would be scrupulously fulfilled, and that steps were being taken to see that this was done without delay.

I was informed on the 14th November that Mr. Foord's Agreement had been signed at Shanghae that day, and later I received the inclosed extract from a letter of the British and Chinese Corporation, which explains the discrepancy mentioned in the last paragraph of my despatch No. 469 of the 24th October,

I inclose translation of a note from the Wai-wu Pu, received last night in reply to mine of the 22nd October, and I should add that my latest information from Mr. Bland is that the affairs of the Shanghae-Ningpo Railway seem to be progressing more satisfactorily.

(Extract.)

I have, &c.

(Signed) J. N. JORDAN,

Inclosure 1 in No. 1.

Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co. to Sir J. Jordan.

RE Shanghae-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway.

November 14, 1908.

Mr. Foord. Our telegram of the 31st July re Mr. Foord's Agreement was sent you in consequence of advices from Hong Kong that Mr. Foord had accepted the terms of his proposed Agreement, which we assumed included his signature thereof. It has since transpired that Mr. Foord did not actually sign the Agreement in question.

Our advices of the 14th ultimo referred to the non-signature of the Agreement by the Managing Director, which is really the point at issue, as the signature thereof by Mr. Foord is obtainable at any moment, provided the terms of the document have not been changed since he accepted them. Mr. Foord's position vis-à-vis the two provincial

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