O
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA,
CONFIDENTIAL.
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C.0.
23206
21
[June 14.]
12 JUL
SECTION 3.
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 14.)
(No. 199.) Sir,
Peking, May 27, 1909. WITH reference to my despatch No. 84 of the 24th February last, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith copies of two further despatches from His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghae, respecting the conservancy of the Whangpoo.
The report of M. de Rijke detailing the work to be done and giving an estimate of the cost of the improvements was, I believe, furnished at the request of the dean of the diplomatic body, and it will, no doubt, be laid before my foreign colleagues and myself by M. de Carcer at no distant date. It will then be necessary to examine with care the question of the cost of the scheme and of the ways and means to carry it into effect. So far as I understand the situation, M. de Rijke proposes within the next five years to carry out improvements the total cost of which will be approxi- mately 8,089,765 dollars or over 1,500,000 dollars a year. The total yearly sum which the Chinese authorities have contracted to provide by the agreement of 1905 (see " Affairs of China," the 18th November, 1905, section 1) is 460,000 taels, or, approximately, 690,000 dollars. It is true that the agreement further provides for the issue of loans, should this yearly sum prove insufficient, that the sum of 460,000 taels is to be paid as a minimum contribution for twenty years, that is to say, until the year 1925, and that these yearly contributions would seem to be sufficient for the payment of the interest and the repayment of the principal of the loans required to cover the excess of expenditure over revenue for the next five years. But it should not be forgotten that the security upon which both the yearly contribution of 460,000 taels and any loan which may be issued are guaranteed is the revenue derived from the taxation of opium in Szechuan and at Hsuchoufu in Kiangsu. This security is a constantly decreasing quantity and should have entirely disappeared by the year 1916. The question of finance, therefore, and possibly that of maintenance also, will have to be carefully considered by the diplomatic body.
Another point which will claim attention is whether the consular body at Shanghae, as pointed out by Sir Pelham Warren, were not acting ultra vires when they passed the German consul-general's motion relating to the manner in which the dredging operations should be carried out. It seems to me that their right of interference is limited to cases where they consider that the work is not being conducted with diligence, carc, and economy, as provided in article 11 of the agree- ment of 1905, and that they are scarcely competent to express views of a technical nature which conflict with those of the engineer in charge, whose judgment must be presumed to be entitled to more consideration.
I have, &c.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
J. N. JORDAN.
Sir,
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir J. Jordan,
Shanghae, May 15, 1909. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith a copy of the minutes of the consular committee meeting which sat on the 30th April to discuss M, de Rijke's last report on the Wangpoo Conservancy question.
At this meeting a resolution was passed by a majority of 4 to 1 proposing to carry on the works in accordance with the engineer's report, and to approach the Chinese Government through the diplomatic body urging that ways and means be devised to raise the necessary funds. The four members who voted for this resolution were the Belgian consul-general, the French consul-general, the Dutch consul-general, and myself. The only member against was the German acting consul-general,
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