CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 47

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

45

C.O.

CHINA RAILWAYS.

12195

[March 8.]

CONFIDENTIAL.

RECE

SECTION 5.

RacP 2 APR OC

No. 1.

[9075]

(No. 70.) Sir,

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received March 8.)

Peking, February 13, 1909. IMMEDIATELY after writing my despatch No. 48, Confidential, of the 2nd February, Mr. Bland sent me a copy of a letter which he felt compelled to address to the Director-General in regard to the, in his view, unsatisfactory state of affairs on the southern section of the Tien-tsin--Pakow Railway. I inclose herewith a copy of this letter. Mr. Bland's chief complaints were that in spite of repeated requests the auditor was not allowed to fulfil his duties under the Loan Agreement, and that the loan funds were dealt with irregularly.

There is a conflict of opinion between Mr. Bland and Mr. Tuckey as to the Auditor, the nature of which will be gathered from a despatch of the 29th January from His Majesty's Consul at Nanking, copy of which is also inclosed; but as regards the more pressing question of the treatment of the loan funds, all the information reaching me lately through the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank and other quarters corroborated the view that the money was not being handled properly. Mr. Bland assured me that he had done everything in his power to move the Director-General in these and other matters, and, his efforts being apparently fruitless, I decided to address a note to Prince Ching on the subject on the 9th February. A copy of this note is forwarded herewith for your information. In this I have summarized Mr. Bland's allegations, requested that an investigation may be made into the facts without delay, and pressed for the issue of stringent instructions to the Director-General to act up to the strict letter of the Loan Agreement,

I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN,

Inclosure 1 in No. 1.

Consul King to Sir J. Jordan.

(No. 5.) Sir,

Nanking, January 29, 1909. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith a copy of a communication I have received from Mr. T. W. T. Tuckey, the Engineer-in-chief of the southern section of the Tien-tsin-Pukow Railway, dealing with the affairs of that railway.

I have, &c. (Signed)

H. KING.

Inclosure 2 in No. 1.

Mr. Tuckey to Consul King,

Tien-tsin-Pukow Railway, Southern Section,

My dear King,

Chief Engineer's Office, Nanking, January 27, 1909. AS you

have been kind enough to take an interest in the affairs of the Tien-tsin-Pukow Railway, I think that the inclosed correspondence may interest you. I have been accused of not keeping in touch with the Syndicate who raised the loan for the southern section of the railway, and I hold that it is the Syndicate who deliberately abandoned me, and left me to make a lone fight here, when the very small measure of support I asked for would have saved the situation.

The Loan Agreement does not define the authority of the Chief Engineer. It gives him no control of the expenditure, and it states most distinctly that he is to obey the orders of the Managing Director. Further than this, the Chief Engineer's own Agreement forbids his giving information about the affairs of the railway. The one saving point in the Agreement is that the Syndicate have the right to send an

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