CO129-416 - Public Offices - 1914 — Page 140

李心靈

adoption, it would have to be dictated by the

Central Government.

The amount which they and

137

their fellow-countrymen in Kuangtung could raise is

put at twenty million dollars, and I am informed

that the hongkong & Shanghai Bank's other commd t-

ments would not debar it from receiving subscrip-

tions.

On receipt of your telegram in reply, I re-

turned to Canton and placed myself in commmanica-

tion with the Tutu. He at once instructed kr.

Li lisin-ling, an officer of the Ministry of F1.

nance,

sent down from Peking to enquire into the

local financial situation, to see me and to show ne

the draft agreement entered into with the british

engineer, originally referred to in the newspapers,

who turned out to be a MT. John Wilkie of the long-

kong firm Macdonald & Co., engineers and contrac-

tors. It was in effect a repetition of the propo-

sal laid before, and rejected by, Mr. Killier,

did not contain any provision as to control.

and

The

principals

i