CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 143

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

CHINA RAILWAYS.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[41855]

621

[November 17.]

7 JAN !!

SECTION 1.

No, 1.

Dear Sir Francis,

Mr. Addis to Foreign Office.-(Received November 17.)

31, Lombard Street, London, November 16, 1910,

I ENCLOSE copy of a telegram from Tokyo which was handed to me last night by the manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank, on behalf of Mr. Takahashi, the late financial commissioner of Japan in this country,

The preamble to the telegram refers to an alleged conversation with Mr. Townsend in 1907. Mr. Townsend has no recollection of this, and it seems probable that Mr. Takahashi has confused the application made by Japan in 1906 for inclusion in the Chinese Central Railways (Limited) (vide your letter to the Chinese Central Railways (Limited) of the 11th December, 1906), with the agreements recently concluded between the British, French, German, and American groups for joint participation in Chinese loans.

However that may be, it is clear that what Mr. Takahashi desires now is to form a Japanese group as a fifth wheel in the coach of our quadruple inter-bank and inter-group agreements.

To the manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank, who called upon me with the telegram, I have suggested that there are two points in connection with our international agreements which Mr. Takahashi might consider before making a formal application for the inclusion of a Japanese group.

First, that each of the groups was only admitted to the international agreements in consideration of certain concessions in China appertaining to each of them which were brought into the common pool. America, for instance, was admitted in consideration of her preliminary agreement with China for the 10,000,000l. currency reform loan, &c. The Japanese group would have to consider in the same way what considerations it could put forward to justify its inclusion in the general agreements.

In the second place, I pointed out that Mr. Takahashi would have to consider that in the event of the other groups declining participation in any business accepted by Japan, the latter would be denied access to European markets and would have to issue the loan in its entirety in Tokyo.

I have also furnished the manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank with the general terms of the international agreements and expressed my willingness to supply him privately with any further information in my power, short of copies of the agreement, which are confidential.

The results of to-day's interview are being telegraphed at length by the Yokohama Specie Bank to Tokyo, and it now remains to be seen if Mr. Takahashi, in the light of fuller knowledge, is determined to proceed with an application which, I fear, may prove embarrassing to the British group, for the inclusion of a Japanese group in the international agreements.

I shall keep you informed of any further developments.

Enclosure in No. 1.

Yours truly,

R. S. ADDIS.

Telegram communicated to Mr. Addis.

(Telegraphic.)

Tokyo, November 14, 1910. PLEASE communicate the following message to Mr. A. M. Townsend, the manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghae Hanking Corporation :--

"In the early part of 1907, while I was staying in London as the Imperial financial commissioner, I had the pleasure of receiving your call one day, and you communicated to me that, upon the private information of the English Foreign Office, you want to suggest that when Japanese bankers wish to join with the financial group

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