CO129-512-4 Boxer Indemnity Settlement 22-12-1928 - 9-5-1929 — Page 59

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returned to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]

59

F.18/57/10).

To CHINA.

Cypher telegram to Sir M. Lampson, (Peking),

Foreign Office, 16th April 1929, 3.45 p.m.

No. 149.

Your telegrams to Mr. Newton Nos. 88, 89 and 90

(of April 11th: Boxer Indemnity),

I approve general lines of your telegrams but I

observe that you suggest three alterations in the pro-

posed notes, viz:-

(1) Telegram 89, paragraph 2. According to your

draft Chinese government are to specify that prior

charges on railway revenues must be met before interest

is paid on loan from Indemnity. This would give im-

pression that we are using Indemnity as lever to get

payment on arrears of existing railway loans. I agree

that these should have priority, but deprecate such

stipulation appearing in our Indemnity settlement. The

words "after prior charges on railway revenues concerned

have been met" should therefore be omitted.

ted.

(2)

Paragraph 5 of telegerm No.89 should be omit-

Question of Board of Trustees should be left en-

tirely to the National government.

(3) Your telegram No.90. There should be no

mention of the Indemnity in any assurance the Chinese.

may give regarding payment of outstanding debts for

material.

If drafts in your telegrams Nos. 89 and 90 have

not yet been submitted to the Chinese these corrections

should be made. If already submitted they need not be

corrected, but above considerations should be borne in

mind during subsequent negotiations.