4.
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difficult to maintain that these words necessarily imply joint management, while the minutes of the discussions point rather to the absence, at that time, at all events, of any specific contemplation of joint management.
I am forwarding a copy of this despatch to the officer administering the Govern- ment of Hong Kong, and shall take no further steps in the matter pending the receipt of instructions.
I have, &c.
W G. MAX MÜLLER,
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"The enclosure consisted of two articles from the scheme in this connection, from which it is clear, beyond any possible doubt, that it was contemplated that the arrangement in regard to joint working should be based on through running powers.
"The Board of Communications have the honour to request that the delegates of the Hong Kong Government should be notified to continue negotiations on the above basis, since it is important not to postpone the date for opening traffic."
The Wai-wu Pu have the honour therefore to forward this memorandum for Mr. Max Müller's information for transmission to the proper sources.
(Members of the Waj-wu Pu).
(Translation.)
Enclosure in No. 1.
Wai-wu Pu to Mr. Max Müller.
THE board have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Max Müller's memorandum with reference to the arrangement of a joint working agreement for the British and Chinese sections of the Canton-Kowloon Railway.
The Wai-wu Pu at once wrote to the Board of Communications and are now in receipt of the following reply
..
"The conditions in respect to the British and Chinese section of the Canton- Kowloon Railway are quite different. The former section was constructed by Great Britain from its own funds; the latter section was constructed by China from the proceeds of a loan. Moreover, the boundaries of the two sections are quite distinct. The only possible arrangement is to negotiate a procedure for joint working, and the draft of an agreement in this sense has already been prepared and sent to Taotai Wei Han for joint consideration between himself and the delegate appointed by the Government of Hong Kong. In addition, we forward herewith a memorandum with a request that your board will forward it to His Majesty's Minister in Peking."
The contents of this memorandum are as follows:--
"There are countless objections to joint management (of the two sections) and the Board of Communications have repeatedly issued instructions to the general manager, Mr. Wei IIan, to make representations to this effect to the delegate of the Hong Kong Government. Provided suitable arrangements are made with regard to through traffic on the British and Chinese sections, the expansion of trade will in no way be arrested. The question of the detriment, or the reverse, of the general prosperity of the country through which the line runs is not solely dependent on joint management, but on quite other conditions; this question, moreover, is one for which the responsibility properly lies with the management of the railway, and a remedy for the conditions therefore should be found as they arise in each place. Further, to ensure the prosperity of the district it is not an essential that a change should be made to joint management.
"Government-managed railways in China, each have their own separate general management, yet the arrangements between them for through running powers have been attended with exceptionally smooth working, The agreements therefore concluded between them in regard to joint working have been satisfactory in every way. There is no reason why a similar procedure should not be adopted in regard to the Canton-Kowloon Railway. Mr. Wei Han has been instructed to consider, in conjunction with the delegates of the Hong Kong Government, an agreement which has been drawn up embodying arrangements as to passenger and traffic receipts received on one section on account of the other, &c., on through traffic between the sections. The draft of this agreement is based on the procedure adopted for mutual co-operation between the various Government lines in China, and no difference, it will be noted, is made in the treatment accorded the section constructed by the Hong Kong Government and that constructed by China. This type of agreement should clearly meet with the fullest approval of the Government of Hong Kong."
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Again, on the 5th October, 1908, the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, in a letter to the engineer-in-chief of the Canton-Kowloon Railway, wrote as follows:-
"Under instructions from his Excellency the Governor I enclose for your information copies of certain extracts from the procedure (contemplated) in connec- tion with the linking-up of traffic between the two sections.'
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