[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[46622]
No. 1.
[December 24.]
SECTION 1.
Sir,
Board of Trade to Foreign Office.(Received December 24.)
Board of Trade, December 23, 1909.
I AM directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th November with its enclosure relative to a new scale of rates recently intro- duced on the South Manchurian Railway.
The list of rates forwarded by His Majesty's consul at Newchwang indicates that the new rates to places beyond Kungchulin are identical from Dalny and Newchwang, whilst those to nearer points on the line are less from Newchwang than from Daluy, In the circumstances, the board are not able to share Mr. Wilkinson's view that the new schedule of rates indicates undue discrimination in favour of the latter port, in view of the common practice of competing railways to charge similar rates for traffic to identical points, irrespective of the distances to be traversed on their respective systems.
I am at the same time to point out that the new scale, though it reduces somewhat the preference enjoyed by Newchwang under the old scale for the carriage of goods to Mukden, actually accords a preference to that port for the carriage of goods to all stations from Tiehling to Kungchulin inclusive, with the single exception of Kuochatien, which did not exist under the old scale. Sir E. Grey will remember that after careful consideration of the rates of this earlier scale he was of opinion that it afforded no ground for protest, an opinion in which the board concurred.
I am, &c.
G. R. ASKWITH.
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