234
C.O
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government. 16818
[A]
CHINA RAILWAYS,
CONFIDENTIAL.
[27370]
No. 1.
(REOP 10 AUG CO!
[July 20.]
SECTION 1.
1
(No. 234.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received July 20.)
Peking, July 1, 1909. AT the interview referred to in the concluding paragraph of my despatch No. 215 of the 17th June, I invited the serious attention of his Excellency Hsu Shih-chang, the newly appointed President of the Board of Communications, to the various infractions of the Shanghae-Ningpo railway loan agreement, of which we have had to complain during the past six months. The handing over the construction to the provincial bureaux, the refusal of the bureaux to recognise the responsible officials appointed by the Board of Communications according to the loan agreement, the inferior character of the work done on the line by the bureaux, the irregular treatment of the loan funds, and the calling for tenders for German locomotives in violation of article 18, were all carefully restated, and his Excellency requested to take immediate steps to put matters in order. I laid stress on the direct responsibility of the Board of Communications for this grave state of affairs, inasmuch as his Excellency Liang Shib-yi, a councillor of the Board, was the author of the scheme under which the control of the railway was handed over to the bureaux, with whom an agreement had been concluded on the very day the loan contract with the British and Chinese Corporation was signed. What the bureaux thought of Liang's scheme could be seen from a letter published in the "North China Daily News" on the 11th June, in which the secretary of the Kiangsu Burean publicly announced that the loan agreement between the Chinese Government and the corpora- tion had no binding effect on either of the provincial railway bureaux. I recapitulated all that I had done to obtain redress through the Wai-wu Pu, mentioned that I had gone the length of suggesting a direct reference to the Prince Regent without effect, and requested his Excellency to take my complaints personally in hand, and concert suitable measures with the Grand Council. My own view was that the provincial railway bureaux should be abolished, and the control of the railway resumed by the Board, and I said that I would urge my views on the Grand secretary, Na-t'ung, as soon as I saw him,
His Excellency, who was fully aware of the situation, and recognised that it should be set right, took note of what I said. He promised to consult with Na-t'ung, who is a member of the Grand Council, and endeavour to decide ou a course of action, but he did not speak very hopefully, and appeared to be oppressed with the difficulty of finding a solution which will be acceptable to the provinces.
Three days afterwards, on the 21st June, I saw Na-t'ung for the first time since his illness, and made strong representations in much the same language as that used to Hsu Shih-chang. I dealt especially upon the open disregard of the authority of the Central Government, as evidenced by the printed letter of the secretary of the Kiangsu Bureau, which, it appeared to me, should be noticed severely. He assured me that, although in retirement, he had none the less kept himself informed on the business of the Wai-wu Pu, and was aware of all that had passed in the last three months relating to the Shanghae-Ningpo Railway. He had, moreover, seen Hsü Tajen since my interview of the 18th June, and the two of them had been discussing ways and means. He felt confident that they could arrange to set matters on a satisfactory footing, and said that be would communicate with me again in a few days' time.
On the 24th, I sent him a copy of the newspaper containing the letter above referred to, and two days later I endeavoured to arrange another interview on the 29th, at which I hoped to learn the result of his consultations with Hsü, but was told that he would be engaged on that day at a meeting of the Council of Government Reform (Cheng Wu Chu), The death of the Viceroy of Chihli on Sunday morning, the 27th, caused an extensive rearrangement of important posts, and one of the new appointments announced by decrees of the 28th, was that of Na-t'ung to be Acting Viceroy of Chihli, pending the arrival of Tuan-fang, who has been ordered to come north from Nanking as
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