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once and for all, that he and his colleagues looked to the Wai-wu Pu, and to the Wai-wu Pu only, for the decision of the Chinese Government.
The Grand Secretary pleaded that he could only press the Board of Communica- tions to complete the agreement. He could not, as the German Minister had suggested, order the Board of Communications to do this, and he did not know in whom the power to issue such orders was vested. The agreement was not a final one, Chang Chih-tung was dead, and the situation was exceptional.
It was pointed out to his Excellency that as a member of the Grand Council he had merely to apply to the Throne for the issue of an ediet instructing the Board of Communications to conclude a settlement on the basis of the preliminary agreement which had been negotiated under special authority conferred on Chang Chih-tung by the late Empress-Dowager. It was not conceivable that the Prince-Regent would hesitate to confirm the act of his illustrious predecessor.
After a protracted discussion, during which I was authorised by my colleagues to say that our respective Governments desired that the contract should be consummated without further delay, the Grand Secretary finally declared that no alteration was contemplated in the essential principles of the preliminary agreement, but that the details would require some emendation.
The Ministers signified their willingness to allow the representatives of the banks to resume negotiations with the Board of Communications, on the understanding that they were merely empowered to consider the formalities necessary for giving effect to the preliminary agreement.
After the meeting was over, the American Minister, Mr. Calhoun, who had taken no part in the discussion, informed his colleagues that Liang Shih-yi, the Director- General of Railways, had furnished Mr. Straight with a memorandum of the alterations which the Board of Communications wished to introduce into the preliminary agreement. I have not yet seen this document, but its contents were communicated on the following day to the representatives of the other three banks, and I gather from Mr. Hillier that it embodies some proposals of a fundamental nature. For instance, it is proposed that the party with which the agreement is made should be a Chinese railway company of the type of the similar company with which we are familiar in Chekiang; that no date should be named for commencing or completing the construction of the railways; that all mention of the Imperial Maritime Customs should be deleted from the agreement, and that in case of default the provincial authorities should be required to pay to the banks the amount necessary to meet principal and interest; and that a Chinese engineer should be appointed to supervise the construction of the two lines, with divisional engineers of the four nationalities under him.
This last stipulation is evidently intended as a bait to gain the support of the American and French groups to these absurd proposals, but it is not likely to effect its object.
The meeting between the acting president of the Board of Communications and the representatives of the banks was held yesterday afternoon, and 1 have the honour to transmit herewith an account of the proceedings. It will be seen that the Board of Communications was not prepared to enter into a discussion of the question, and that the announcement of the meeting was probably only intended to forestall the demands which Na-trung anticipated would be made at our interview, It is evident, however, that our attitude made the Chinese realise that Liang Shih-yi's proposals stood no chance of acceptance, and it is something to have obtained confirmation of the assurance that there is no intention of changing the general basis of the agreement, and that the alterations will be tuerely of a verbal character. It would, however, be too much to expect that this assurance will be literally construed, and the mere fact that Liang Shih-yi is associated with the negotiations is a guarantee that they will be hampered by every conceivable form of obstruction.
But if the representatives of the four banks hold firmly together, and are prepared to exercise the necessary pressure, there should be a fair prospect of a successful issue,
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
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Enclosure 1 in No. 1,
Joint Memorandum.
ON the 22nd October the Ministers of the four Powers informed the Imperial Government in identic notes that, in consequence of the surprising attitude of the presidents of the Yu-chuan Pu, the meeting of the representatives of the banks with the Board of Communications which had at last been convened by that board on the 3rd October had led to no result. The Ministers of the four Powers therefore called upon
the Imperial Government to instruct the Board of Communications to act in accordance with the engagements represented by the initialled agreement of the 6th June, 1909, and to co-operate with the representatives of the banks in the steps necessary for its early completion and ratification.
As no reply was forthcoming for more than a month, the Ministers of the four Powers, on the 26th November, again addressed the Imperial Government in identic notes, repeating their request and pressing for a reply.
Since then another month has elapsed, and neither a reply to the request made nor an explanation of the delay has been received by the legations.
The silence, almost amounting to discourtesy, with which the Wai-wu Pu persist in treating formal official correspondence affecting important interests of the Imperial Government, as well as of the four foreign countries concerned, not only defeats the efforts of the Ministers to arrive at a friendly settlement of the matter, but is calculated to draw the attention of the home Governments to the manner in which negotiations are conducted in China,
The Ministers therefore feel that no course is now left to them but to make this joint personal representation to the Wai-wu P'u, and to insist upon receiving without further delay a definite reply as to the intentions of the Imperial Government with regard to the settlement of this matter.
Peking, December 27, 1910.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
J. N. JORDAN,
Notes of Interview at Yu-chuan Pu, December 29, 1910.
Present: Shen Yuu Pei, acting president; Messrs. Hillier, Cordes, Straight,
and Casenave.
THE President recapitulated the difficulties they experienced in dealing with the provincial gentry. He referred to the recent interview of the four Ministers with the Wai-wu Pu, and said that the statements that he made to us at our last meeting of the 3rd October appeared to have been misunderstood. There was no intention to change the "Tsung-chih" or general basis of the agreement; what was proposed was merely to make a few changes in the "tzu chu" or wording.
The objections of the gentry were particularly directed against the Tien-tsin- Pukow terms, which had been incorporated in the present agreement.
the
We again explained that the whole of the present agreement was based upon Tien-tsin-Pukow Agreement by the special request of the late Grand Secretary Chang Chih-tung.
The president said that in this respect his Excellency Chang had made a mistake; the two railways were separate, and the basis of negotiations should have been kept quite distinct.
Then followed a repetition of the discussion which took place at the last interview with regard to the validity of the present agreement and the powers of his Excellency Chang to bind the Imperial Government.
The president was verbose and inconclusive, and, as it was impossible to keep him to the point, it was suggested that he should state, for the information of the repre- sentatives, what were the verbal alterations to which he had referred. He said that be would furnish us with a memorandum of them in the course of a day or two. It was suggested that, since we were all present, it was good opportunity to discuss the more important of them at once. The president repeated that the proposed alterations were unimportant, and he was obviously anxious to postpone the discussion. He was
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