CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 148

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subjects should not be called upon to evacuate their properties on the termination of the railway company's lease without receiving due compensation. These and kindred matters will require to be carefully examined when the time comes for effecting a definite settlement of the question. In the meantime it may be borne in mind that, as Mr. Sly observes, China's efforts will be directed to curtailing as far as possible the rights accorded to foreigners under treaty, and Russia can hardly be expected to abandon without a struggle the privileged though anomalous position she has obtained. Recent events also make it evident that in this respect she will have the support of Japan. A point of some importance is the fact that the Russian authorities at the present moment recognise the principle of extra-territoriality so far as foreign subjects who have their own representatives in Harbin are concerned, and it would therefore seem that a satisfactory solution of the question, though difficult, should not be impossible to attain. I need hardly point out that British interests in Manchuria are growing, and that the results might well make themselves felt beyond the confines of Harbin.

(No. 13.) Sir,

I have, &c.

W. G. MAX MÜLLER.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1.

Acting Consul Sly to Mr. Max Müller.

Harbin, July 3, 1910. I HAVE the honour to enclose herewith a report, which is largely of a confidential nature, on the railway settlement and municipal administration of Harbin.

The whole situation is, as far as I am able to judge, a very complicated and difficult one; the Russian authorities, having apparently recognised the futility of negotiating independently with the Chinese to the exclusion of other Powers, now seem to favour a complete reversal of that policy and to desire to come, in the first instance, to an urrangement with the foreign Governments. In informal conversation with my American colleague, I have gathered that he, personally, would favour some scheme which would allow a set of municipal regulations to be compiled by the Russian consul-general in conjunction with the taotal on the understanding that any rules included therein affecting foreigners other than Russian should be submitted for On the other hand, if the recent the approval of the Governments concerned.

reports to the effect that the United States Government is prepared to consent, temporarily and pending the settlement of the whole question, to the payment of municipal taxes by American subjects are true, it would seem that that Government is at once ready to abandon, in no small degree, the strong stand formerly assumed by it in opposition to Russian claims and aspirations. It is an interesting fact that, saving two employés in the Imperial Maritime Customs who would in all probability not be taxed, there are at present no American subjects in Harbin to pay taxes, and it has occurred to me that the reported change in American policy may not be unconnected with Mr. Straight's visit to St. Petersburgh in the interests of the Chinchou-Aigun Railway scheme.

An article appearing in the local Bussian press of yesterday reproduces an item from the "Chung Kuo Jih Pao," to the effect that Taotai Sze, having come to the conclusion that the May agreement is in many respects unfavourable to China, has decided to approach the Wai-wu Pu with a view to obtaining the necessary instructions to reopen negotiations with the Russian authorities. If this statement is correct, it would appear either that both parties are dissatisfied with their bargain of last year, or that the Chinese, recognising that the Russian authorities no longer regard the arrangement as having full force and vigour, consider it necessary for the sake of appearance, to themselves express dissent. There seems, in any case, to be some reason to think that the Russian authorities, in admitting the Chinese to an equal voice in municipal matters, have possibly gone a step further than they intended, and that the next elections, if held under the saine conditions as those of February 1908, may, if the Chinese participate, see the election to the assembly of delegates of not a few Chinese. The Russians, if my information is not at fault, are divided by internal dissention; while the Chinese may be trusted to vote solidly for the men they select, and may be expected to have the support of some of the Russian voters.

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An incident which has just been reported to me by Messrs. Craig and Co. testifies to the unsatisfactory nature of the existing local conditions. Messrs. Craig and Co. are agents for the General Accident. Fire and Life Assurance Corporation, of London and Perth, and tendered for an insurance to be taken on a new municipal bazaar at present under construction in the Pristan. Their offer was rejected by the town council on the ground that the insurance company--that is Messrs. Craig and Co.- paid no taxes. Messrs. Craig and Co, estimate that the yearly premium required by them would have been 300 to 350 roubles less than that which will be charged by any of the Russian companies.

I have, &c.

Enclosure 2 in No. 1.

H. E. SLY.

Report by Acting Consul Sly on the Railway Settlement and Municipal Administration of Harbin,

THE acting consul-general at Mukden in his despatch No. 60 of the 29th November, 1909, gave much valuable information in regard to the railway settlement at Harbin. The object of this report is to furnish additional particulars, and to include in them a general description of the system of municipal government.

A plan of the railway area, the total extent of which is 29,700 acres, or 46 square miles, is attached, and forms Aunex 1. A glance at this plan will show that the port of Harbin, as it is comprehensively called, is composed of several disjointed parts, the largest of which are the Novi Gorod or New Town; the official quarter; Pristan, the business centre; Old Harbin; Alexeievka and Gospitalni Gorodok or Hospital Town. The two most important sections are the New Town and Pristan, the combined area of which is about 4 square miles. Old Harbin, where General Horvat prefers to reside, is the original town of Harbin; a certain number of minor officials employed on the railway have their residence there, and it is also a station for some of the troops. It has generally the appearence of a small country town. Alexeievka is an exceedingly poor quarter, and is the home of izvozchiks, the drivers of the public carriages, and other indigent members of the population. The Gospitalni Gorodok, which was built as a hospital town during the Russo-Japanese war, is now mainly given over to barracks. At the north-east corner of the southern portion of the railway area, to which it is adjacent, and facing the Pristan is the Chinese town, not a walled city, of Fu Chia Tien, the north side of which runs along the southern bank of the Suugari. Several buildings have been erected upon the land lying between Pristan and Fu Chia Tion, and it is no longer the waste space which it appears to be on the plan. The swampy land stretching to the west of Pristan would require bunding and reclaiming to render it fit for occupation; but the whole country south-east, north-east, and south-west of the New Town is high-lying and dry, and provides ample room for expansion. Pristan, as previously stated, is now the commercial centre, but there appears to be no reason why it should remain exclusively so. The Russo-Chinese Bank is established in the New Town, and there Messrs. Samuel, McGregor, and Co, have also recently rented offices. The lots coloured yellow on the plan are the properties of the municipal administration, and the red and blue lines surrounding the New Town and Pristau indicate the limits of its authority. The area between the red and blue lines docs not come under the full control of the municipality, but is within its sphere of influence.

The system of municipal administration is that reported by Sir John Jordan in his despatch to the Foreign Office, No. 190, dated the 23rd May, 1909. In other words, the regulations of December 1907 are still generally in force, and no further steps have been taken towards the elaboration of the detailed regulations contemplated by the May agreement concluded between the Russian and Chinese authorities which formed an enclosure to the above-mentioned despatch. Indeed, I gathered from my Russian colleague that his legation already regards this agreement as inoperative or lapsed-an eventuality which was foreseen by His Majesty's Minister and by Mr. Willis, the acting consul-general at Mukden. It has, however, to be stated that minutes of the meetings of delegates and of the town or municipal council, the exact composition of which is given below, are sent to the Chinese Office of Foreign Affairs as well as to the railway company.

The present municipal administration is entrusted to an

* Not printed.

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