}
247
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]}
CHINA RAILWAYS,
CONFIDENTIAL.
[36223]
No. 1.
[October 6.]
SECTION 1.
325 Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received October 6.) (No. 952) Sir,
Peking, September 21, 1910. IN my despatch No. 288 of the 24th August I enclosed a copy of a letter from the representatives of the four banks to the President of the Board of Communications, requesting his Excellency to appoint an early date for an interview for the purpose of discussing the formalities necessary for the completion of the two agreements in regard to the Hukuang Railway loan.
It having been brought to my notice that no reply had been received by the managers of the banks either to this letter or to the letter which they addressed on the 19th ultimo to his Excellency Shen Yün-p'ei, who on the resignation of Hsü Shih-chang was appointed to act as president of the board pending the arrival of Tong Shao-yi, I came to the conclusion that it was time for the diplomatic representatives to intervene, and, after consultation with my French colleague, I drew up the enclosed note to Prince Ching, complaining of the delay which had occurred, through no fault of our own or of the banks, in the initiation of the negotiations which his Highness had himself suggested.
The managers of the German and American banks having persuaded their respective Ministers to accept the draft, the note was sent in by the four legations on the 19th instant.
I would add that I was informed yesterday, on the authority of his Excellency Isi Shih-chang, that Tong Shao-yi, whose month's leave has already expired and who was said to be already in Tien-tsin, is as a matter of fact still at Canton, though my informant, and indeed all Chinese officials, profess to be quite certain that he will ultimately come to the capital to take up his post.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Prince Ching.
Your Highness,
Peking, September 19, 1910, ON the 1st ultimo your Highness addressed a note to me and simultaneously to the German, French, and American Ministers, stating that the notes addressed to you on the 13th July by the four representatives in regard to the loan for the construction of the Hupei-Hunan section of the Hankow-Canton Railway and of the Hupei section of the Hankow-Szechuan Railway had been referred to the Board of Communications. Your Highness at the same time requested that the representatives of the banks might be directed to negotiate the matter satisfactorily direct with the Board of Communications.
I accordingly requested Mr. Hüllier, the manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, in conjunction with the managers of the other banks, to place himself in communication with the Board of Communications, for the purpose of discussing, within the terms laid down in my note to your Highness of the 13th July, the formalities necessary for the completion of the two agreements referred to in that A similar request was at the same time sent by the Ministers of Germany, France, and America to the managers of their respective banks.
Dote.
On the 12th August the managers of the four banks addressed a joint communication to the Grand Secretary, Hsu Shih-chang, informing him of the request which they had received from the heads of their respective missions, and asking his Excellency to be good enough to appoint an early date upon which he would accord them an interview for the purpose of entering into negotiations.
On the resignation of his Excellency Hsu Shih-chang, Mr. Hillier and his colleagues addressed a further letter to his Excellency Shen Yün-p'ei, the Acting
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