C.O.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government] 7226
[B]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[16631]
No. 1.
RECO REG 2! MAY 09,
[May 3.]
SECTION 1.
368
(No. 149.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 3.)
Peking, April 9, 1909. IN accordance with my instructions Mr. Willis utilized the short interval which elapsed between his handing over charge of the Consulate-General at Mukden and entering upon his duties as Acting Consul at Newchwang in paying a visit to Harbin, and I have now the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a report which I have received from him on the situation at the latter place.
Both General Horwath and the Chinese Taotai, Mr. Alfred Szc, have been in Peking for the past fortnight and the question of the railway settlements has been discussed at several interviews at the Wai-wu Pa. General Horwath himself, as far as I can gather from several conversations which I have had with him, appears to favour an international settlement as the best solution of the difficulty at Harbin, but the Russian Minister tells me that the Chinese are anxious to come to an arrangement with Russia before taking up the question with the other Powers.
M. Korostovetz hopes that the main principles of a Russo-Chinese arrangement regarding railway settlements generally will be settled in a few days and has promised to communicate them to me as soon as they have assumed a definite form.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure in No. 1.
(Confidential.) Sir,
Acting Consul Willis to Sir J. Jordan.
Newchwang, March 20, 1909. IN accordance with your instructions, after banding over charge of His Majesty's Consulate-General at Mukden to Mr. Fulford on the 2nd instant, I proceeded on the next day to Kuanchengizu, where I spent two days investigating the conditions obtaining at that port. On the morning of the 6th I left Kuanchengtzu for Harbin.
Mr. Tebbitt had arranged to leave Shanghae on the 20th March, and in order to enable him to catch his steamer it was necessary for me to take over charge of Newchwang on the 13th at latest; consequently I had not so much time at Harbin as I had hoped, being compelled to leave on the morning of the 11th.
I found on my arrival at Harbin that Mr. Alfred Sze, the Taotai, had already left for Peking, and that General Horwath was also expected to proceed there in a day or two, with the intention of commencing negotiations there for the settlement of outstanding questions.
No effort was being made at the moment to collect municipal taxes from foreigners or Chinese in Harbin, and at the other Railway Settlements the Chinese houses which had been closed by the railway police had been unsealed, and an extension of time granted for the payment of the taxes demanded by the railway authorities.
The recent assessment of the scale of taxes by the Harbin Town Council has caused great dissatisfaction even amongst Russian merchants, the taxation demanded from the flour mills, M. Dard, the head of the Russo-Chinese Bank, assured me, being almost unreasonable in their severity.
As regards the payment of taxes by foreigners, M. Kobr, the Austrian Consul at Tien-tsin, who is in charge of Austrian interests at Harbin, informed me that several of his nationals had hitherto, in consideration of the protection afforded to them by the police, been voluntarily paying the taxes demanded from them, but that the recent assessment was so arbitrary and unreasonable that there was now a general unwillingness to contribute. A brewery, for example, which had been assessed at
[2265 c-1]
e
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.