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Enclosure No.à in No.218 (Confidential) to Foreign Office
of Apd1 3rd,, 1923.
CANTON KOWLOON RAILWAY.
Memorandum of Conversation with Dr. Sun Yat-sen,
at Canton, March 13th., 1923.
In commany with 'r. Bootry, Engineer-in-Chief,
Y called on Dr. Sun at his temnotary quarters in the Azricultural College.
After the usual preliminaries, I explained to Dr. Sun that for some years the financial nosition of the Cant on Kowloon Railway had caused us considerable anxiety, The earnings of the railway were insufficient to meet interest payments on the loan, and could contribute nothing · towards the amortisation payments. The deficit had been paid by the Kinistry of Communications from the surplus earnings of the Peking Mikden Railway, but these ceased to be available last year owing to the seizure of half that railway by Chang Teo-lin. A public default in Movember last had only been averted at the last moment by mere chance, and it was very desirable to protect Chinese
such credit against a calamity as a default in London on this long-established and well-known loan. "he reilway earnings could be considerably increased if the longstanding objections to the Junction line between Taishihtou and Wong Sha could be overcome. In 1922 the net earnings were
% 500,000, and it was estimated that this figure could be doubled if the junction line could be constructed. Net earnings of % 1,000,000 would not only suffice to pay interest charges, but would leave a considerable margin available for amortisation.
Dr. Sun said he was quite in favour of the
/junction
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