CO129-401 - Governor Sir May - 1913 [5-6] — Page 241

OP Y.

238

No. 67.

H. B. M. Consulate-General,

Canton, May 14, 1913.

C.O

21324

Sir,

!

Having reference to the subject of your N despatch No. 37 of yesterday's date, I have the honour to enclose

for the information of His Excellency the Governor a prospectus,

with précis translation, issued by the "Canton-liacao Railway Company Limited" in August, 1911, stating the amount of capital the Company desired to raise, the estimated cost of construction of the Railway, the estimated annual revenue and expenditure and the line of country to be traversed by that section of the line from Canton to Shekki (Heungshan), for the building of which sanction of the Imperial Government had been obtained. The survey of the projected line was completed but further progress stayed by the Revolution. In October 1912 the scheme was again submitted to the Peking Authorities and approved by the new Republican Govern- -ment, but the principal promoter of the enterprise, Liang Yun- kuei, is experiencing serious difficulty in raising capital. With the example of the Yueh-Han line in mind, Cantonese are reluctant to invest money in new railways, particularly while the political situation remains as uncertain as it is at present.

2.

I am informed by an intimate friend of his that Liang Yun-kuei is the son of the late Liang Heiu-tsun, a coal merchant trading in Honam, Canton, under the style Kuang Kee, & firm which still exists. A number of years ago the younger Liang established an independent business in Hongkong which proved un- -successful and he finally went into bankruptcy in the Colony about the year 1900. His father declined to give him further pecuniary assistance and for some time he was obliged to depend upon the liberality of friends for a livelihood. They also furnish- -ed him with sufficient funds to pay his expenses to Peking where, by the influence of T'ang Shao-yi, whose daughter his son had

married