CO129-451 - Public Offices - 1918 — Page 436

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At the request of the Governor of Singapore I have considered the Company's case, and have secured from the Shui Wu Ch'u an undertaking that the Commissioner of Customs at Mengtzu will be instructed to assess the value of the tine .contents in unsmelted ore passing through the Mẹngtzu Custom House, and that duty will be paid according to tariff on the tin contents of the ore alone. This privi- lege is granted at present only for the period of the war.

In his intelligence Report for the March quarter His Majesty's Consul-General at Yunnanfu states that a private report has reached him to the effect that the French Minister in Peking has signed an agreement with Heu Shih-chang (an influential official who now holds no office) for mining concessions in Yunnan and Kueicnow. The French Consul has informed Mr.Goffe that there is no truth in this rumour; the Ministry of Commerce in Pekin; also has no information in regard to such a transaction and is inclined to discredit the report. Mr.Goffe also records a rumour that the Military Governor is attempting to negotiate a Japanese loan of from 3 to 5 million dollars on the security of the tin mines of Ko Chiu. No information on the subject has been received by the Ministry of Commerce, and they point out that the provincial government has no control over these mines which are operated by privite Chinese owners, and jealously guarded from foreign interference.

I have. &c.

(signed) J.K.Jordan.

Henry

- Tokyo 160 Commercial (n.d.) June 7, 1918:

BRITISH EMBASSY. - 432

TOKYO.

June 1st. 1918

S17:

On receipt of your confidential Despatch of

March 11th last I transmitted to the Governors of

Hong Kong and Singapore with whom I had already

been in correspondence respecting Japanese interest

in the tin trade, copies of the Telegram sent by

General Tan Chi-yao to kasara Chang Jung-hui and

Li Yui-chuan; and I explained to Their Excellencies

the circumstances in which that Telegram had been

sent.

I am now in receipt of a Despatch from the Gover-

nor of Hong Kong, a copy of which I have the honour

to incloss herewith, respecting the tin deposits of

Yunnan and an attempt to reise money from the Banque

de l'Indo-Chine on the security of the tin revenues

and tin wines of that Province.

I am sending copies of this Despatch to the Foreign

Office and to the Governor of Singapore.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

your most obedient servant,

The Right Honble:

(Signed) Conyngham Greene.

SIR JOHN JORDAN G.C.I.R. K.C.B. K.C.A.G.

Fis Briternic Majesty's Minister

Paking.