CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 340

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(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government."

CHINA RAILWAYS.

CONFIDENTIAL.

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336

C O 183531

[May 1.]

SECTION 1.

Rece

P18 MAY 11

No.

(No. 149.) Sir,

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 1.)

Peking, April 9, 1911. IN my last despatch on the subject of the Hukuang Railway loan, No. 122 of the 17th March, I had the bonour to report the terms of the compromise which the representatives of the four groups had submitted for the approval of their respective Governments. This approval was in due course conveyed to my colleagues and myself and we were instructed to take concerted measures for presenting the proposed arrangement to the Wai-wu Pu and for insisting upon its immediate acceptance.

As a result of frequent consultations between myself and my colleagues, a meeting was held at this legation on the 20th ultimo at which the representatives of the banks were also present. There was considerable divergence of views not only amongst the Ministers, but also amongst the bankers as to the procedure which should be adopted. Briefly speaking, the British and German representatives were in favour of taking strong and decided action with the Wai-wu Pu, while the French and Americans inclined to the view that further overtures should be made to Shêng Kung Pao before proceeding to extreme measures. In the end, it was decided that I should write to Prince Ching and ask him to arrange for an interview at which the four Ministers should be received by his Highness, attended by the president of the Wai-wu Pu, Na t'ung, as also by Sheng Kung Pao and Hsu Shib-ch'ang, the present and late presidents of the Board of Communications.

The Prince's reply was that Sheng Kung Pao was too ill to attend the interview, which must be postponed until his recovery.

The German Minister was on the point of handing over charge of the legation and was reluctant to court a further rebuff on the eve of his departure. He suggested as a way out of the difficulty that I should see Prince Ching alone and make a representation on behalf of the four groups. My other colleagues and I did not see our way to accept this suggestion, and eventually another letter was written to Prince Ching insisting upon an interview with his Highness as the responsible representative of the Imperial Government.

This interview took place at the Prince's residence on the 5th instant and was attended by all the high officials whose presence we had requested in our first letter. The enclosed account of the proceedings, which was prepared by Mr. Barton, the Acting Chinese Secretary, and has been accepted as the procès-verbal of the meeting by the other three legations, renders it unnecessary for me to dwell at any length upon the efforts we made to induce the Prince and his colleagues to accept our proposal. The discussion, which occupied two hours, was conducted on the Chinese side almost entirely by Sheng Kung Pao who showed all his accustomed dexterity in parrying every thrust and held his ground unflinchingly to the end. Our object was to induce him to abandon the minor alterations he wished to make in the preliminary agreement if we conceded the ommission of the branch line, and to avoid, if possible, making the latter commission without receiving a substantial equivalent. In this we signally failed and in the end we were obliged to show our hand and intimate that we would be prepared to agree to the omission of the branch line provided a satisfactory arrangement on the other points was concluded with the banks within a limited time.

The interview fully served its purpose, for it was evident that Sheng, astute and hard bargainer as he is, was prepared to make terms and that Prince Ch'ing would do what he could to promote a settlement if he were only to avoid the prospect of another interview of the kind.

Two days later the representatives of the banks had their promised interview with Sheng and the accompanying account of the proceedings will show the marked progress they have made towards arriving at a settlement of this vexed question.

Sheng terminated this interview with the remark that he half hoped that some ground of disagreement would still be found, as otherwise he feared the business was going through and his troubles would then begin with the provinces.

The poverty of initiative and lack of practical experience amongst the members of

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