(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
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23539
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CHINA RAILWAYS.
REC
TRAFIC JUL 11
CONFIDENTIAL.
[June 9.]
SECTION 1.
[22312]
No. 1.
123
(No. 219.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 9.)
Peking, May 22, 1911. THE Imperial decree, copy of which was transmitted to you in my despatch No. 204 of the 10th May, caused considerable commotion in the provinces, and on the 14th May a mass meeting was held at Changsha to protest against the railway policy of the Government. Foreign loans were denounced in violent terms, and anti-foreign placards and handbills were posted and scattered broadcast. Mr. Giles having telegraphed to me that he considered the presence of a British gun-boat desirable, I communicated this request by telegraph to the Admiral, and His Majesty's ship "Woodlark" proceeded from Hankow to Changsha on the morning of the 17th May. In the meantime, the governor of the province, in a telegram to the Board of Communica- tions, copy of which I have the honour to enclose, had declared his inability to maintain order, and had disclaimed responsibility for the consequences which the adoption of the Government's policy was likely to produce.
The Government, however, maintained a firm front, and on the following day dispatched a circular telegram (copy enclosed) to the Governor of Hunan and the Viceroys of Canton and Szechuan, in which these high authorities were ordered to make the necessary arrangements for the recovery of control over the trunk lines, and for giving effect generally to the terms of the Imperial edict preparatory to the appointment of a director-general who would deal with the whole question in consulta. tion with the provincial Viceroys and governors. The edict, of which a copy is enclosed, was issued later on the same day, appointing his Excellency Tuan Fang to be director-general of the Canton-Hankow and Hankow-Szechuan Railways, and ordering him to take measures in concert with the provincial authorities concerned for the enforcement of the railway decree.
The policy enunciated in the various edicts which I have briefly outlined in this and my previous despatch is of such a momentous nature, that one hardly ventures to predict its ultimate consequences. But there can be no doubt that the Government fully realise that railway communication is necessary to avert the disruption of the Empire, and that they consider it better to deal at once with provincial opposition to railways than to be unprepared to meet revolutionary attempts such as that which recently occurred at Canton.
His Excellency Tuan Fang, who came to talk over the whole question with me yesterday, said he felt convinced that the course which the Government had taken was the only one open to them in the circumstances, and with the moral support of the four Powers, more especially of England and America, he looked forward with hope to the successful completion of the difficult task which had been imposed upon him.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN,
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Telegram from Yang Wen-ting, Governor of Hunan, to Shếng Hsuan-huai.-
(Communicated by Mr. Mayers.)
(Translation.)
HUNAN RAILWAYS.
THE issue of the decree handing over the railways to the Government has occasioned great indignation among the masses, and the whole body of the people are raising a clamour. Every day meetings are being held to discuss the situation, at which most violent speeches have been made. It is impossible to reason with the
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