CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 356

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

CHINA RAILWAYS.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[12281]

No. 1.

[April 11 SECTION 3654

Rr 15 JU 10]

Consul-General O'Brien-Butler to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received April 11.)

(No. 5. Confidential.) Sir,

Yünnun-fu, February 26, 1910.

I HAVE the honour to forward to you herewith copy of a despatch which I have sent to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, reporting an interview with his Excellency the Governor-General of Yunnan and Kueichiou, at which the subject of the proposed Bhamo and Tengyueh Railway was discussed.

I have, &o.

P. E. O'BRIEN-BUTLER.

Enclosure in No. 1.

Consul-General O'Brien-Butler to Sir J. Jordan.

(No. 10. Confidential.) Sir,

Yunnan-fu, February 25, 1910. I HAVE the honour to report that I had yesterday a long interview with the Governor-General regarding the Bhamo and Tengyuch Railway.

I told his Excellency that I had received instructions to discuss this project with him as soon as he had bad time to settle down in his new post, and that I had therefore waited a few months before asking for the present interview. He replied that he had promised you that he would take up the matter of the construction of a railway to Burmah as soon as he had had an opportunity to make himself acquainted with the present condition of affairs in Yünnan, and he informed me that he had already formulated certain proposals in this respect which he had communicated to the Wai-wu Pu. He could not tell me just at the moment what these proposals were, but he promised that as soon as he received a reply from Peking he would give me full information regarding them; and he added that I should not have any occasion to remind him of this promise.

I said that I was very pleased that he was taking the matter up so earnestly, and that I should be very interested to learn what his proposals were as soon as he felt himself at liberty to communicate them to me; in the meantime, however, I hoped that he would allow me to place before him the views and proposals of the British Government. I then recapitulated all the arguments which you had advanced to him and to the Wai-wu Pu, as shown in the copies of your despatches to the Foreign Office of the 30th May, the 2nd November, and the 24th December, and proceeded to explain certain details concerning the narrow-gauge railway proposed by the Govern- ment of Burmah, laying stress on its comparative cheapness and the prospect of its earning over 4 per cent, per annum on the capital outlay. Thereupon I suggested a scheme for the joint construction of this line by the Governments of India and China, or of the provinces of Burmah and Yunnan, each side to provide half of the capital and to receive balf of the profits. His Excellency listened to me with great attention, and asked me several questions as to details, and he remarked that a jointly-owned railway would have the great advantage of unity of management. He asked me what arrangements I would propose in this respect, and also if the joint ownership was to be permanent. I said that all details connected with the line would be settled by the two Governments at Peking, and I added that it was probable that there would be a joint managing committee consisting of one or more railway engineers appointed by each of the countries; as to the duration of the joint ownership, I said it would be possible to arrange that it should come to an end by notice after a certain number of years--say,

five, ten, or twenty-when each of the Governments could either purchase from the joint administration the portion of the line laid on its territory or provide for its acquirement by a private company.

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