[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
CO [September 2]
SECTION 1. NECR
Rro 3 OCT 10
[33117]
No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received September 12.)
(No. 288.) Sir,
WITH reference to my despatch No. 261 of the 2nd instant in regard to the
Peking, August 24, 1910. Hukuang Railway loan, I have the honour to report that there was some difference of opinion as to the construction which should be put upon the Wai-wu Pu's note, but that it was generally agreed that the best way of ascertaining the real meaning and intentions of the Chinese Government was that the representatives of the groups concerned should open discussions with the Board of Communications with the least possible delay. At the same time, the absence in the note of any reference to the Imperial sanction of the agreements made it desirable to lay down clearly that the Scope any discussion between the board and the financial representatives should be strictly limited to the definite line prescribed in the identic notes of the 13th July. In pursuance, therefore, of a request made to them by my colleagues and myself, the representatives of the British, French, German, and American groups addressed a letter, of which I have the honour to enclose the copy, to the President of the Board of Communications, requesting his Excellency to appoint an early date for an interview for discussing the formalities necessary for the definite completion of the two agreements.
of
On the resignation of Hsu Shih-chang, Mr. Hillier and his colleagues addressed a further letter on the 19th August to the acting president of the board, pressing for a reply to their earlier communication. It seems unlikely that any material progress will be made until the arrival of Tong Shao-yi, the newly appointed president. The latter has recently been granted a month's leave on the ground of ill-health, a fiction which Chinese custom and etiquette and his Excellency's own dignity require him to maintain for the moment in relation to a matter foreign to his new appointment. I am informed on good authority that the delay in his arrival is not due to ruluctance on his part to take up the post. His nomination has caused general and keen satisfaction in financial and commercial circies, and, taken in conjunction with the changes reported in my telegram No. 143 of the 18th instant, is regarded as indicating a return to the régime of more enlightened statesmen, and is believed by some people to herald the restoration of Yuan Shih-kai himself to power.
I have, &c. (In the absence of His Majesty's chargé d'affaires),
E. SCOTT.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Joint Letter addressed to President of Board of Communications.
Your Excellency,
Peking, August 12, 1910. WE have been informed by our respective legations that, on the 13th July last, the representatives of Great Britain, France, Germany, and America addressed a communication to His Imperial Highness Prince Ching, requesting him to obtain Imperial sanction for the loan agreement of the 6th June, 1909, for the construction of the Hupei-Hunan section of the Hankow-Canton Railway and of the Hupei section of the Hankow-Ssuchuan Railway, together with the supplementary agreement providing for the participation in the loan of an American group, in order that the said agreements may be definitely signed and put into operation.
A reply to this identic note has now been received from the Wai-wu Pu, stating that, after the death of the Grand Secretary Chang Chih-tung, an Imperial decree was issued transferring the matter of the loan to the Board of Communications, who were ordered to make proper arrangements. The identic note has therefore been transmitted by the Wai-wu Pu to the Board of Communications for their information, and for
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