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Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Agreement between Liang Shih-yi and Mr. Bellingham, dated August 19, 1909.
THE director-general of Imperial Railways of North China (hereinafter called the director-general) agrees to appoint Mr. Augustus William Harvey Bellingham (hereinafter called the said engineer-in-chief) as the engineer-in-chief and general manager of the Imperial Railways of North China, and the said engineer-in-chief agrees to serve the Imperial Railways of North China as engineer-in-chief and general
manager.
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2. This agreement is for a period of three years commencing from the date at which the said engineer-in-chief joins the railway service, ie., the
day of 190 subject to the conditions contained in articles 6 and 7. 3. For such service rendered the director-general shall pay the said engineer-in- chief the sum of 2,0007. per annum, payable monthly as it becomes due in Tien-tsin at the rate of exchange of the due date, or in London to his credit with the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation.
4. In addition to the salary, the said railway shall furnish the said engineer-in- chief the house at Tongshan formerly occupied by his predecessor, Mr. Kinder, and the said house shall be cleaned, painted, and colour-washed, and electric light installed at the said railway's expense.
5. As the said engineer-in-chief receives his salary from the Imperial Railways of North Chiua he is a subordinate under the director-general, and shall obey the instructions previously issued and (or) issued in the future by the director-general.
6. In the event of any dispute arising between the said engineer-in-chief and the directors, or the traffic manager or the chief accountant of the said railway, the matter in dispute shall be referred to the director-general for decision, whose decision shall be final and binding on both parties.
If the said engineer-in-chief shall at any time neglect or refuse to perform or comply with all or any of the articles of this agreement, or any of the duties required of him, or all or any orders of the director-general or duly authorised directors by the director-general in that behalf, or shall be guilty of any misconduct or negligence or of any breach or non-performance of the provisions of these presents, it shall be competent for the director-general to declare the employment of the said engineer-in- chief under this agreement at an end, and in such cases the director-general shall not be under obligation to provide the said engineer-in-chief with a passage to England. Should the said engineer-in-chief be temporarily incapacitated for duty owing to ill-health his case shall be dealt with under the leave rules. If, however, the Imperial Railways of North China's medical officer certifies that the said fengineer-in-chief is unfit for further service in China, he shall forthwith and with all diligence (having regard to the condition of his health) proceed to England. The Imperial Railways of of North China's medical officer shall be the sole judge of the said engineer-in-chief's fitness or unfitness to travel, and the director-general shall not recognise that any delay was occasioned by ill-health unless he so certifies.
7. In case of war in China rendering the construction or working on the railway works or line impossible or unsafe, if either party desires to terminate this agreement, the said railway shall pay the said engineer-in-chief one month's pay, but if the said engineer-in-chief is retained by the railway and it is necessary for him to retire to a treaty port for safety, the railway shall pay him the usual salary, and this agreement shall continue in force, and the salaries of the said engineer-in-chief shall be paid in arrear to him when he returns to the railway service. If the said engineer-in-chief does not do any works for the railway, he will not receive any house rent.
8. The said engineer-in-chief shall respect the Chinese officials and work harmoniously with all those Chinese who come in contact with him. The said engineer-in-chief shall report everything concerning railway affairs to the directors and the director-general, and he is forbidden to give any information to outsiders or disclose anything regarding railway business to other people.
9. The said engineer-in-chief shall exert the best of his ability and time as engineer-in-chief and general manager for the railway, and shall not engage himself in any other business and transact any business for other people. He is not allowed to interfere with the work of other railways in China unless he has been instructed by the director-general to do so.
10. After the signing of this agreement, if there is anything the said engineer-in- chief wishes to deal with the local authorities, he shall report the case to the directors,
who will communicate the same with the said authorities, and he shall not communicate with the local authorities direct.
11. All the correspondence or documents which the Imperial Railways of North China sends to the said engineer-in-chief will be forwarded to him by the Imperial Railways of North China, or by the duly authorised person of the Imperial Railways of North China, who will deliver them to the house usually or lastly occupied by the said engineer-in-chief, and the said engineer-in-chief shall send his correspondence or documents to the railway office, and obtain a receipt for the same.
Correspondence thus delivered shall be considered acknowledgment of receipt. 12. The whole of the said engineer-in-chief's travelling expenses in the interior will be paid if he is required to go from his permanent post on railway service. But while stopping at any open port in China, if on railway business, the said engineer- in-chief shall receive a fixed sum of 7 dollars per diem while he is obliged to stay at
an hotel.
13. After the expiration of this agreement, and if it is not renewed, the Imperial Railways of North China shall provide the said engineer-in-chief a first class passage from Tien-tsin to London, and in addition thereto the said engineer-in-chief will receive a sum of 100 Hongping Hua pao taels to cover all hotel, the coolie hire for baggages, and other expenses.
14. The said general manager is specially to control the works, foreign and native workmen, the inspection of machinery, &c.; but in any matter referring to the above, the said general manager shall at first consult with the directors before they could be carried out.
In witness whereof the contracting parties do hereby subscribe their seal and (or) signature on this 19th day of August, 1909.
A. W. HARVEY BELLINGHAM. LIANG.
Sir,
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
Mr. Hillier to Liang Shih-yi,
September 7, 1909. REFERRING to my letter of the 1st July last, communicating to you the concurrence of the British and Chinese Corporation with the appointment of Mr. A. W. Harvey Bellingham as engineer-in-chief and general manager of the Imperial Railways of North China, I have now received from Mr. Bellingham the copy of an agreement signed by your Excellency and himself on the 19th August with regard to which I beg to submit to you the following observations upon certain features which must appear to the corporation to be open to objection
1. The agreement makes no mention of Mr. Bellingham's appointment having been made in consultation with the corporation as called for by the loan agreement, nor of the protocol, by which the post of general manager was created, and in order to give due prominence to these essential conditions of the appointment, I would suggest that clause 1 of Mr. Bellingham's agreement should be amended as follows :--
"The director-general engages the services of Mr. Bellingham as engineer-in- chief and general manager of the Imperial Railways of North China, the said appoint- ment having been made in consultation with the British and Chinese Corporation in terms of the loan agreement of the 10th October, 1898, and of the protocol dated the 29th April, 1902.”
2. Reference is made throughout the body of the agreement, excepting clause 14, to the engineer-in-chief alone, instead of to the engineer-in-chief and general manager. I would suggest that the double title be adhered to. Article 6 refers to disputes arising between the engineer-in-chief and general manager, on the one hand, and the traffic manager or the chief accountant. As the two latter are technically the subordinates of the former, the language of the clause appears inconsistent, and I would suggest the deletion of the words "or the traffic manager or the chief accountant," and the insertion of the word "managing" before "directors."
3. Clause 8 of Mr. Bellingham's appointment, imposing upon him secrecy with regard to the affairs of the railway, appears as it stands to debar him from free exercise of those relations with the corporation which it was the obvious intention of
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