CO129-551-4 Canton-Kowloon Railway Working Agreement 16-11-1934 - 5-12-1935 — Page 76

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taken up with this problem of allocation percentages. skill with which Mr. Walker presented his case for a premium mileage enabled a satisfactory settlement to be reached with surprisingly little delay. The British Section was originally built not to cater for local traffic but to be a link in a

direct line to Canton. Otherwise a roundabout light line several miles longer would have sufficed. But with river steamer competition present the time differential was all important. The British Section had therefore to be driven through mountains and broken country irrespective of expense. Eventually a premium mileage of 40% commended itself to both parties. This meant that the through fare would be shared in the ratio of 28 to 72 instead of 35 to 65 as hitherto. The quotas of joint service rolling stock were fixed on the same proportion. The moment these major issues were disposed of Mr. Walker in collaboration with Mr. Mok of the Ministry of Railways speedily put up a routine draft working agreement in accordance with railway practice. This document was consider- ed by the six delegates clause by clause and after some amendments eventually accepted. A Chinese translation was prepared in due course and six prints of the English and Chinese Texts combined were made and formally signed by all six delegates on July 28th.

The Draft Working Agreement omits reference to certain important matters which are outside the scope of such a document but which had a bearing on the negotiations. It was agreed that the debt claimed by the British Section from the Chinese Section in respect of the suspension of through traffic at various times in the past should be cancelled. This item totalling $1,025,533.94 has appeared hitherto in the balance sheet of the British Section, The Draft Working Agreement contains a special clause which makes special provision for any suspension of traffic which may

arise in the future.