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    {
        "id": 404747,
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        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-333 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [1-4]",
        "page_number": 485,
        "title": "CO129-333 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [1-4]",
        "content_text": "## \nHis Excellency's idea was to ask the Corporation to raise a loan & engage a British Chief Engineer to supervise construction; material which China herself could not supply would be ordered from the cheapest market through the agency of the Corporation.\n\nMr ROSS said that by the terms of the proposed Draft Agreement the Corporation would raise the necessary loan, & the railway would be constructed by the Viceroy of Canton under the supervision & with the assistance of a Board, jointly composed of 2 Chinese, 2 representatives of the Corporation & the Chief Engineer. The Shanghai-Nanking Railway was managed by a similar Board & if the Deputies made enquiries they would find that it worked harmoniously & that all matters of importance were referred to the Director-General for his approval.\n\nMr WEI enquired in what way the Draft Agreement differed from the Northern Railways Loan.\n\nMr ROSS replied that the Northern Railways Loan was floated on the security of a railway already completed, several hundred miles in length, with a large supply of rolling stock & other property. The loan was partly to pay off debts due by the Administrators of the Railway to various foreign Banks & to construct an extension to Newchwang and Sinmingtung, & the security offered to investors was ample. In the case of the proposed Canton-Kowloon Railway, there was no security as the line had yet to be built. The proposed joint Board of Commissioners, however, was a guarantee to investors that their money would be used for the purpose intended & that the railway would be properly and economically constructed.\n\nMr WEN said that the Viceroy of course recognizes that during construction foreigners must supervise & control the work, but after completion the railway must be a Chinese Railway & under Chinese control. In event of default the Corporation could put in an Accountant to control accounts.\n\nMr ROSS added that by the terms of the Northern Railways Loan the Corporation furnished a qualified foreign Accountant who supervises accounts and with not unsatisfactory results to the Chinese Government.",
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    {
        "id": 411249,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "page_number": 426,
        "title": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "content_text": "## \nAs long as their business is properly managed, they have it entirely in their own hands, and every shareholder is equal. No one has a right to dictate the policy of the Company; every shareholder has an equal right to speak, and the views of the majority prevail.\n\n\"I think Chinese Companies, under proper rules, with Imperial sanction, and with mixed Boards of native and foreign Directors, could be established and made to work satisfactorily. The railways would have to have foreign management at first; there are no Chinese at present who have the knowledge or experience necessary for the management of a large railway. The men who would be employed would, of course, be Chinese employés, as the Customs people are. Such men would do better work, and be more satisfactorily controlled by a mixed than by a purely Chinese Board of Directors. Besides, a Board composed of foreigners and Chinese would likely select a better class of foreigners than would likely be got in any other way. Foreigners are the best judges of foreigners, and Chinese of Chinese.”\n\nNoting the advice thus given, which is undoubtedly based on close acquaintance with Chinese affairs, it is interesting to consider the conditions under which railways on Chinese territory have been constructed since that date, and the political and financial results of these enterprises.\n\n## \nIn Manchuria, Shantung, and Yunnan, China has, at various times and under diplomatic pressure, conceded the right of railway construction to foreign Powers under conditions which deprive China of all control and profit in these enterprises and seriously prejudice her sovereign rights within the territory through which these railways run. The danger resulting from such concessions has now been fully recognized; it is realized that the existence on Chinese soil of railways administered and controlled to the detriment of China's political authority should never have been permitted. Of this, the history of the Manchurian provinces since 1896 has afforded a convincing object lesson, and a warning.\n\nConcessions of this kind may be described as strategical and political, as distinct from commercial undertakings, their inception being undoubtedly intended rather to extend the influence or territorial advantages of the Powers concerned than to develop the resources of the Empire for the advancement of China, and the consequent benefit of nations interested in the expansion of her trade; under existing political conditions, it may safely be assumed that no further concessions of this kind will be made, and that measures will eventually be agreed upon to prevent the railways thus constructed from creating results prejudicial to the Central Government's authority.\n\nThe Luhan Railway, although an enterprise originally associated with political objects of certain foreign Powers (1896-98), may now be definitely regarded as a commercial undertaking for the joint benefit of the Chinese administrations and the concessionnaires, and under the authority of the Chinese Government. No officially published information is available as to the cost of construction of this important trunk line or the actual results of its maintenance and working; but as the concessionnaires receive 20 per cent. of the profits, figures will no doubt be published in due course. A reliable authority, however, places the total cost of construction at a little over `6,000,000l`, provided partly by the Belgian loan and partly by funds paid in compensation for damage done by Boxers. The net profits (July 1906) are said to average 150,000 dollars per mensem. Had it not been for the receipt of `2,000,000l` on account of the Boxer disturbances, an additional loan would have been necessary, entailing further interest charges, which would have practically eliminated the profits now declared. By engineers, the work is generally reported to be good, though the system of construction is not that adopted on British railways, and is likely to entail heavy charges for maintenance and repair. China is entitled to pay off the Belgian loan (`4,500,000l`) on and after the 1st September, 1907, and, should she so desire thereafter, to take over complete control of the railway.\n\n## \nAnother Chinese Government railway which comes within the category of commercial undertakings with foreign capital is the line from Kaifeng to Honan-fu (about 210 kilom.), now in course of construction. Its conditions are practically the same as those of the Luhan, the Chinese Government guaranteeing the interest at 5 per cent. on a loan of `1,000,000l` at 90, intrusting the entire construction and administration to the Belgian concessionnaires (“la Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer et de Tramways en Chine\"), which is also entitled to 20 per cent. of the net profits of the undertaking. Period of loan twenty years: redemption of bonds begins after the tenth year.\n\nThe Chengting-Taiyuen-fu line (about 350 kilom.), originally part of the British `Peking Syndicate` Concession, became a Franco-Russian undertaking as the result of Russian diplomacy in 1898. It is now in course of construction—the capital (40,000,000 fr.) is French, and the conditions of the Loan Agreement are practically the same as those of the Honan-Kaifeng contract.\n\nThere are other railway undertakings on a small scale, such as the Ping Hsiang line in Hunan and the line (under construction) from Swatow to Chaochow-fu; but they need not be referred to in detail.\n\n## \nIn the Luhan contract, no precautions were taken by the Chinese Government to prevent the Concession being transferred from Belgian to any other nationality, an oversight which before long created serious uneasiness in the minds of his Excellency Chang Chih-tung and other high officials. When, therefore, a similar commercial Railway Concession was concluded with an American Syndicate (1898) to construct the railway from Hankow (Wuchang) to Canton, a clause was included in the contract stipulating that the rights of the American concessionnaires should not be transferred to persons of any other nationality. This clause was subsequently violated. The Belgian group of politicians and financiers who (supported by French and Russian diplomacy) had endeavoured to obtain the original Concession intrigued successfully at New York and obtained a controlling interest in the American Syndicate's stock, by virtue of which they speedily asserted claims to construct and administer the line. In this violation of the American Syndicate's agreement, his Excellency Shêng Kung-pao was apparently willing to acquiesce, but the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung, dreading the political effect of Franco-Russian influence, insisted on cancellation of the Concession. The personnel of the American Syndicate had practically no interest in China; their objects in obtaining—and in transferring—the Concession rights were frankly pecuniary, and they readily accepted the price at which, upon his Excellency Chang Chih-tung's advice, the Chinese Minister in Washington was authorized to buy back the Concession. As the contract had admittedly been violated, and as the United States' Government was unwilling to guarantee that the railway would permanently remain a strictly American undertaking, the payment of a large indemnity to the concessionnaires was unnecessary and unwise. This unfortunate conclusion of the affair has naturally prejudiced foreign capitalists in the eyes of the Chinese Government and people, and has indefinitely postponed the construction of a most important railway. The results are as much deplored by foreigners as by Chinese, but the experience will not be lost if it teaches the Chinese Government not to intrust important national undertakings to unknown capitalists whose interests are in no manner identified with those of China.\n\nThe short line from Canton to Samshui constructed by the American Syndicate before the repurchase of the Concession is now administered by the Liang Kuang Viceroy. The passenger traffic is remunerative, showing how profitable the trunk line should be. The management of the line, however, judged by European standards, is extremely defective, the personnel inefficient, and the maintenance bad; unless these matters are reformed, the railway must before long come to grief.\n\n## \nIn Shansi, a short line has been built by the `Peking Syndicate` to assist in the development of the Coalfield Concession, running from Tsecho to the Wei River. The future value of this railway (which has been recognized as a Chinese Government undertaking like the Chengting-Taiyuen-fu line) must depend on the facilities given for exploiting the coalfields, a matter which the gentry and students of the province appear to be opposing.\n\nThe Northern Railway—running from Peking to Tien-tsin, Shanhaikwan, Newchwang, and Sinminting—is the most profitable in China. Its first section was built by British engineers with Chinese capital under the direction of the Viceroy Li Hung-chang in 1879. Originally intended only to connect the Tongshan mines with the nearest navigable water, it was gradually extended to Tien-tsin and Shanhaikwan. In 1896, British capital was borrowed (`2,300,000l`) for the completion of this railway to Newchwang, under conditions formally recognized by the Chinese and British Governments, the entire line being given as security for the loan, and the railway being placed under the direction of a British engineer-in-chief and financial supervision of the bondholders. The annual profits of the undertaking (which, in 1905, amounted to over 10,000,000 dollars) show how greatly the resources of the Central Government may be increased by properly administered railways, if efficiently constructed.\n\nRecently, however, there have been indications of a tendency to minimize European control in the management—a course which, however gratifying it may be to those who profess advanced nationalist ideas, will, if definitely adopted, seriously prejudice the future prosperity and credit of the enterprise. The Chinese... \n\nPage 2368  \nB 2 \n420",
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    {
        "id": 411865,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "page_number": 365,
        "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "content_text": "# CHINA RAILWAYS\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n### No. 1\n#### 303\n##### [May 23.]\n\nSECTION \n23671 \n4 JUL 07 \nA \n\nSir,\n\nBritish and Chinese Corporation to Foreign Office.—(Received May 23.) |RECZ \n22, Abchurch Lane, London, May 22.\n\nWe now beg leave to reply to your letter of the 2nd instant (the receipt of which we acknowledged on the 3rd instant) and to support the contention of our representative in China that the Agreement between the Chinese and Japanese for the reconstruction of the Sinminting-Mukden Railway under Japanese auspices and with Japanese financial assistance is an infringement of both the original Loan Agreement of the 10th October, 1898, and of the supplemental Agreement (B) of the 20th April, 1902, which in clause 5 specially confirms clause 3 of the original Agreement in the following terms:- \n\n\"Under clause 3 of the Agreement dated the 10th October, 1898, it is stipulated that the construction of branch lines or extensions shall be undertaken by the Northern Railways Administration, and the intent of this stipulation is hereby confirmed in order to secure the existing interests of the railways. It is therefore agreed that the construction of any new railway within a distance of 80 miles of any portion of the existing lines, for which Concessions have not been signed previous to the date of this Agreement, shall be undertaken by the Administrators-General of the Imperial Northern Railways...\n\nSir Edward Grey remarks that the Northern Railway was not constructed to Sinminting when the Agreement (B) of the 29th April, 1902, was signed, but we beg leave to point out that Kaupantze, the junction on the railway from which the line was continued to Newchwang to the south-east, and to Sinminting to the north-west, is less than 80 miles (actually 70) from Sinminting, and that as early as 1900 practically all the earthwork between Kaupantze and Sinminting had been constructed and the rails laid to within 45 miles of Sinminting. The Kaupantze-Sinminting section had therefore become part of the Northern Railway system, although owing to the Boxer rising the actual completion and opening had not taken place.\n\nApart, however, from these facts, we submit that the term \"existing lines,\" in clause 5 of the Agreement of the 29th April, 1902, must necessarily cover the lines contemplated in the Loan Agreement, which the Chinese were under express obligation to the bondholders to construct, and it is to be noted that Sinminting was one of the objective points specially provided for in the Loan Agreement.\n\nWhen the Sinminting-Mukden line is reconstructed it will constitute a connecting link between the Northern Railway and the Eastern Chinese Railway, and also with the Siberian route to Europe. It is important therefore that it should be of the same gauge as the Northern Railway, and that the Northern Railway Administration's control of the working of it should be unfettered, for if the line were in any way under Japanese influence, there is a great risk of the tendency being to divert passenger traffic to the port of Dalny, and thence by sea to Tien-tsin, Shanghae, Hong Kong, and other places, rather than to afford facilities for it to find its way over the Northern Railway system to Peking, Hankow, &c., and later on to Canton and Hong Kong, or to Tien-tsin, and later on to Nanking, and thence over the new railway to Shanghae.\n\nAs regards goods traffic, any obstruction as regards facilities afforded for this class of traffic to find its way over the Northern Railway in the ordinary way would prejudice the interests of Tien-tsin in favour of those of Dalny, and deprive the Northern Railway of legitimate traffic.\n\nSir Grey refers to the Agreement with the Russian Government, that His Majesty's Government would not ask for any extension beyond Sinmintung, and observes that although His Majesty's Government are not similarly bound to the Japanese Government, the latter may be considered in a sense the successors of the Russian Government in title. As to this, we venture to remark that it would, it appears to us, be unfortunate for the Northern Railway if the Agreement were enlarged to include the Japanese Government, as it would prevent the construction of an important and valuable extension long advocated by Mr. Kinder, viz., to Tie-ling on the bank of the Lia Ho. If the Northern Railway system were extended to this place, it would tap at... \n\n[2481 z-3]",
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    {
        "id": 411870,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "page_number": 370,
        "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "content_text": "# CHINA RAILWAYS\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n(19661)\n\n### No. 1.\n#### June 14.\n##### SECTION 2.\n###### C\n23671\n\nSir,\n\nBritish and Chinese Corporation to Foreign Office.-(Received June 14)\nTRG 4 JUL 07 22, Abchurch Lane, London, June 11, 1907.\n\nIMPERIAL Railways of North China and Chinese-Japanese Agreement.\n\nWe beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant informing us, in reference to our letter received by you on the 23rd ultimo, that before communicating with His Majesty's Minister at Peking on the subject Sir E. Grey would be glad to know whether the Corporation's views would be met if arrangements could be made to effect a compromise on the basis suggested by Mr. Bland, viz., that it should be clearly understood that the jurisdiction of the Chinese Railway Administration shall extend north-eastwards only to the Liao River, which is understood to be about 8 miles from Sinminting, and that Japanese control shall be limited to the east of that river.\n\nUnder the Loan Agreement we have no authority to consent to any compromise on behalf of the Bondholders, and we trust that Sir E. Grey may see his way to object to the Chinese-Japanese Agreement so far as it infringes the rights of the Railway Administration, of the Bondholders, and of the Corporation under the Loan Agreement, as set out in our letter to which you refer.\n\nShould, however, Sir E. Grey determine to agree to a compromise on the basis suggested by Mr. Bland, or otherwise, as to which we can take no responsibility, we beg leave to express the hope that before opening negotiations His Majesty's Minister may at least be instructed to discuss such basis with Mr. Kinder, and to enlarge it to such extent as His Majesty's Minister may consider reasonable after hearing Mr. Kinder's views.\n\nIt appears to us that, even if the 8 miles of line between Sinminting and the Liao River be constructed by the Northern Railway, the control of the through traffic between the system of the Imperial Railways of North China and the Eastern Chinese and Siberian Railways would still be in the hands of the Japanese South Manchuria Railway Company, who would probably desire to divert all this traffic to the port of Dalny, rather than to facilitate its passage over the Northern Railway system. The only advantage that would accrue to the Northern Railway Administration if the construction and control of the 8 miles of line to the Liao Ho were in their hands would be that, by this means, it would be possible to tap some of the traffic brought down by the river.\n\nWe are, &c.\n(For the British and Chinese Corporation, Limited),\n(Signed) **W. KESWICK**, Chairman.\n\n[2525 0-2] \nPage 368",
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    {
        "id": 415909,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 74,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nC. O.\n\n71\n\n9519\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n17 MAR 02\n\n[January 25.]\n\nSECTION 4.\n\n(2710)\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 25, 1908.)\n\n(No. 576. Confidential.)\n\nPeking, December 10, 1907. Sir,\n\nWITH reference to my despatch No. 559 of the 27th November and my telegram No. 210 of the 4th December, regarding the draft Agreement entered into by Messrs. Pauling and Co. and the British and Chinese Corporation with the Viceroy of Manchuria for extending the Northern Railway from Hsinminting to Fakumen, I have the honour to report that Lord Ffrench has represented to me the importance of obtaining from the Wai-wu Pu some statement of their intended line of action in this matter, as the survey could be carried out with greater advantage during the winter months.\n\nAs stated in my telegram No. 210, I was not in favour of taking any action until some further move was made, either by the Wai-wu Pu or the Japanese Government, and you were pleased to concur in this view in your telegram to me of the 6th December, No. 132.\n\nThe opposition of the Japanese Minister to the construction of such a line is based, I presume, upon the Agreements between the Japanese and Chinese Governments in December 1905, which were partially communicated to His Majesty's Ambassador at Tôkiô in the spring of 1906 by Mr. Kato, and which formed the subject of Sir Claude MacDonald's despatch to the Foreign Office, No. 72 of the 10th April, 1906.\n\nAccording to Article 3 of Mr. Kato's Memorandum, inclosed in that despatch, China engaged, for the purpose of protecting the interest of the South Manchurian Railway, not to construct any main line in the neighbourhood of, or parallel to, that railway, or any branch line prejudicial thereto.\n\nThe further extension of the Northern Railway was contemplated by the Anglo-Chinese Loan Agreement of the 10th October, 1898, Article 3, and I think we can reasonably hold that subsequent engagements in the interest of a railway which is now purely Japanese cannot be constructed to block a legitimate extension of the Chinese railway system on this side of the Liao River, and to exclude British enterprise from the development of Manchuria. The region which would be tapped by the proposed extension is at present entirely lacking in adequate means of communication, and the line at its most eastern point would be, I understand, over 30 miles to the west of the South Manchurian Railway.\n\nWith these considerations in mind, I came to the conclusion that if an opportunity presented itself I might sound the Wai-wu Pu as to their intentions, since they showed no inclination to mention the subject to me.\n\nI accordingly touched upon the question to-day in conversation with the Grand Secretary Na Tung and Mr. Lien Fang, representing that the contractors, Messrs. Pauling and Co., would be glad to get to work while the season of the year was in their favour.\n\nThe Grand Secretary stated that the Wai-wu Pu had not yet memorialized the Throne for a Decree. The Viceroy of Manchuria was now travelling in the northern provinces, so they had received no recent communication from him on the subject. They would consult with Yuan Shih-k'ai and the Board of Communications, and would reply later to my inquiry.\n\nI am sending a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Ambassador at Tôkiô, with a paraphrase of my telegram No. 210.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.\n\n[2815 66-4]",
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    {
        "id": 415926,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 91,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "2\n\nmust be controlled by the Chinese Central Railways, the above proposal could still be realized, but in that case the Paris office of the Chinese Central Railways would manage the Hankow-Peking concern, the London office of the new Company to be formed having the management of the Hankow-Canton line. All profits accruing from the Hankow-Peking line would, in that case, belong to the Chinese Central Railways, whereas the profits of the Hankow-Canton line would go to the new Company to be formed.\n\nIn any case, a French Company would be formed which would take up, amongst other aims in China, the rights granted to the French group by the Hankow-Canton Agreement.\n\nThe said French Company would, at the proper time, discuss with the British and Chinese Corporation the allotment, either re the Hankow-Canton Railway or re the whole of the Peking-Hankow-Canton line, of the rights to be respectively exercised by the English group and by the French group according to the above-mentioned basis.\n\nIf Mr. Addis' group agrees to these proposals, it would be useful that he should let it be known to Mr. Simon without delay, in order that the latter may settle the matter and take the necessary steps with the French Foreign Office, so that the latter may instruct the French Minister in Peking to support the negotiations of the British and Chinese Corporation's representative specially as regards the Hankow-Peking concern.\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[5951]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[February 20.]\n\nSECTION 2.\n\nBritish and Chinese Corporation to Foreign Office.-(Received February 20.)\n\nSir,\n\n22, Abchurch Lane, London, February 19, 1908.\n\nWE beg leave to request that the following statement may be laid before Sir Edward Grey:\n\nIn November last, in order to meet the trade requirements of the region in which Fakumen is situated, the Viceroy of Manchuria concluded an Agreement with Messrs. Pauling and Co. (Limited), contractors, of Westminster, for the construction by them of 50 miles of railway, from Hsinminting (the present head of the Imperial Railways of North China) to Fakumen, a town on the same (west) side of the Liao River.\n\nAt the same time the Viceroy of Manchuria concluded an Agreement with the British and Chinese Corporation to issue on behalf of the Imperial Chinese Government a loan of 500,000l., to meet the cost of constructing the contemplated extension,\n\nThe Japanese Minister immediately entered a protest against the construction of the railway, on the ground that the Chinese Government had given an undertaking to the Japanese Government in 1905 not to construct any main or branch line of railway competing detrimentally with the South Manchurian Railway.\n\nWe beg leave to inclose herewith a Report by our consulting engineers, Sir John Wolfe Barry and Mr. A. J. Barry, in which they show that the proposed extension cannot with any reason be held to infringe the Chinese undertaking of 1905.\n\nWe also beg leave to quote the concluding clause of a memorandum which Mr. Bland, our representative in Peking, submitted to His Majesty's Minister in Peking last December:-\n\n\"The proposed extension of the Imperial Railways of North China is intended to tap a region which is at present without outlet; not one-tenth of its potential trade can be developed without improved means of communication. The line at its most eastern point will be considerably over 30 miles to the west of the South Manchurian Railway, separated therefrom by the Liao River, so that the alleged detrimental competition with the South Manchurian Railway cannot be seriously regarded. Only by asserting a claim to construct branch lines westwards could the Japanese railway obtain the trade of this region. By recognized practice throughout the civilized world the proposed extension of the Chinese railway system is legitimate and usual, and to dispute China's right thus to promote her interests must involve the admission of an exclusive policy such as that which characterized the policy of Russia before the war.'\n\nWe are fully in accord with the opinions expressed by the consulting engineers and Mr. Bland, and would further ask your permission to state that we can hardly believe it possible that the arrangement concluded by the Governments of Japan and China (to which reference has been made) contemplated placing China in the position of being unable to develop, for commercial purposes, a valuable and important section of the province in which the suggested railway would be constructed.\n\nWe venture to express the hope that the facts now submitted may appeal to Sir E. Grey, and that he may see his way to take such steps as he may consider proper to induce the Japanese to withdraw their opposition to this legitimate piece of railway construction urgently needed for trade purposes.\n\nWe are, &c.\n\nThe British and Chinese Corporation (Limited),\n\n(Signed) W. KESWICK, Chairman.\n\n[2856 u-2]\n\n88",
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        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 92,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "DOMESTIC.\n\n2\n\nInclosure in No. 1.\n\nSir J. W. Barry and Mr. A. J. Barry to British and Chinese Corporation.\n\nGentlemen,\n\n7, The Sanctuary, Westminster, February 18, 1908.\n\nWITH reference to the suggestion which we understand has been made, viz., that the proposed extension of the Northern Chinese Railway from Hsinminting to Fakumen would be competitive with the Southern Manchurian Railway, we would point out that the proposed railway, being on the west side of the Liao Ho, would serve a district quite distinct from that from which the Southern Manchurian Railway draws any traffic.\n\nThe Liao Ho forms an effective barrier against any local traffic finding its way from the country to the west of that river to the Southern Manchurian Railway eastwards of the same.\n\nAt the present time all the local produce of the country westwards of the Liao Ho through which the proposed extension would run is carried by cart to Sinminting, and is there placed on the Imperial Chinese Northern Railway.\n\nThe construction of the proposed extension could not fail to develop a fertile area badly in need of better transport, whilst it would also link up the important town of Fakumen (which has a population of from 30,000 to 40,000) with the railway system of North China, and by means of the Hsinminting-Mukden loop line, now under construction, with all the trade centres served by the Southern Manchurian Railway.\n\nIn our opinion, therefore, whilst the proposed extension could in no sense be regarded as competitive to the Southern Manchurian Railway, it would really act as a feeder to the railway system.\n\nThere is another point which should also be borne in mind, viz., that a very heavy bean traffic is brought in native boats down the Liao River to Fakumen from districts further north and west. From Fakumen these boats continue their journey down the river to Newchwang, but none of the traffic carried by them finds its way on to the Southern Manchurian line. Owing to difficulties of navigation below Fakumen there are times when an enormous number of native boats are held up at Fakumen.\n\nIf the proposed railway were constructed it is only natural to expect that a very large proportion of this traffic would find its way to the railway there, and that the additional facilities thus offered would prove a stimulus to the industry of the country in which this traffic now originates.\n\nInasmuch as some proportion of this traffic would find its way eastward from Hsinminting and get on to the Southern Manchurian Railway at Mukden, the fact that the proposed extension would be a feeder to, rather than a competitor with, the latter railway, is, we think, fairly demonstrated.\n\nIt is perhaps possible that the fear of competition arose from the idea that it was contemplated to carry the extension on to Tsitsihar. Tsitsihar is more than 300 miles from Fakumen, and we do not suppose that there is any likelihood of such a proposition being seriously put forward. But, even if it were, no competition could arise except in regard to through traffic.\n\nThe proposed extension to Fakumen, even if at some future time it were prolonged 200 miles or so north and a very much greater distance west, would only become a still more valuable feeder line to the Southern Manchurian Railway, whilst at the same time it would form a most valuable stimulus to the development of the commerce and industry of Manchuria by affording a much-wanted means of transport to a part of the country where at present practically none exists.\n\nWe have, &c. (For the Consulting Engineers),\n\n(Signed) A. J. BARRY.\n\nOffice sa Idrickavet.\n\nForeign\n\n1908\n\n11 Mich.\n\nLast previous Paper.\n\n100\n\nPutly\n\nHONG KONG\n\nSTRAITS\n\nNo. 8868\n\n(Subject.)\n\nRece\n\n89\n\nC. 0.\n\n8366\n\n1P 12 MAR 08\n\nChinese Currency Reform\n\nSends desp. tr. Pekin enclosing Decres 30 Decor calling for expression of opinions from the provincial authorities, as the he on Comage the.\n\nM2 72.8803 to whether the national\n\nthe basis of\n\n(Minutes.)\n\nPut by\n\nа\n\nalone\n\ntask or\n\nHTH.\n\nD\n\ndollas aven\n\n1000015-17. 25. Lud,—20362--\n\n25003-11-7.\n\n23312-W. & S. j-250-\n\n25000-11-47.\n\nNext subsequent Paper.\n\nyo.\n\n2442",
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    {
        "id": 416008,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 173,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[3456]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[February 12.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\n170\n\nSir,\n\nForeign Office to Messrs. Pauliny and Co.\n\nForeign Office, February 12, 1908.\n\nI am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of the 30th ultimo and of the 4th instant on the subject of your proposed contract with the Chinese Government for the extension of the Imperial Railways of North China from Hsinminting to Fakumen.\n\nIt has been ascertained that the agreement not to construct any line parallel to or prejudicial to the interests of the South Manchurian Railway was recorded in a Protocol signed by the Chinese and Japanese Governments, by which the former are clearly bound. In Sir E. Grey's opinion, the question whether the proposed line would or would not injuriously affect the South Manchurian Railway is one for the decision of the Japanese Government. His Majesty's Government would certainly assume such a position if the question arose of the construction of a line competing with a British Railway Concession in China.\n\nHis Majesty's Government have now been informed that this particular project is one which the Japanese specially had in view when negotiating the Protocol referred to above, and, with every desire to further where possible British enterprise in China, they are therefore unable to support it in the absence of any agreement between the Chinese and Japanese having been come to respecting it.\n\nIn these circumstances, I am to suggest that your agent in China, Lord ffrench, should consult with His Majesty's Minister there. Instructions in this sense have been sent to His Majesty's Minister as to the best course to pursue in the matter. Sir J. Jordan already has instructions to assist him, and His Majesty's Government desire to continue their assistance whenever it can properly be given.\n\n[2856 -1]\n\nI am, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nF. A. CAMPBELL.",
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    },
    {
        "id": 416009,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 174,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "171\n\nHis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[7660]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[March 5.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nSir,\n\nBritish and Chinese Corporation to Foreign Office.-(Received March 5.)\n\n22, Abchurch Lane, London, March 4, 1908.\n\nIN the letter which we took leave to address to you on the 19th ultimo, re Imperial Railways of North China, we quoted a portion of a Memorandum which Mr. Bland, our representative in Peking, had submitted to His Majesty's Minister in Peking last December, in which he contended that the statement of the Japanese that the proposed extension to Fakumen would be detrimental to the South Manchurian Railway, could not be sustained.\n\nWe now beg leave to submit an extract from a letter which the Directors of the Corporation have lately received from Mr. Bland, dated Peking, the 10th February, and we beg that it may be submitted to Sir Edward Grey :-\n\n\"In reference to this matter, it is claimed by the Japanese Government that a supplementary Article of the Manchurian Convention of 1905, formally accepted by the Chinese Government, debars the latter from undertaking any extension of the Northern Railways, and the Japanese Minister has definitely stated that, if the work is begun, it will be forcibly stopped. The clause on which the Japanese Government relies reads as follows:-\n\n\"The Chinese Government engage, for the purpose of protecting the South Manchurian Railway, not to construct, prior to the recovery by them of the said railway, any main line in the neighbourhood of and parallel to that railway, or any branch line which might be prejudicial to the interests of the above-mentioned railway.\n\n\"The Wai-wu Pu do not deny the authenticity of this supplementary Article (publication whereof, according to the Japanese Minister, was withheld at the request of the Chinese Government), but they hold that it is not applicable to the proposed extension of the northern line on the grounds (1) that the Manchurian Convention was never intended to be effective outside the sphere of Japanese military occupation or to the west of the Liao River; (2) that, as the Northern Railways were first in the field, and have suffered severely from the competition of the South Manchurian line, it were absurd to apply this prohibitory clause to the long-established Chinese Government line, or to prevent the legitimate development of Chinese territory in a thickly populated country where no means of communication exist; (3) that the Russians objected to the Sinminting extension on political, not on economic grounds, and subsequently withdrew their opposition; and, (4), that the proposed extension cannot in any case seriously compete, since the Liao River forms a natural barrier between the country to be traversed and that served by the South Manchurian Railway.\"\n\nWe are, &c.\n\nPer pro. the British and Chinese Corporation (Limited),\n\n(Signed) W. KESWICK, Chairman.\n\n[2880 e-1]",
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    {
        "id": 416354,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 519,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[13254]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[April 16.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\n(No. 143.) Sir,\n\nSir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 16.)\n\nPeking, March 25, 1908.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inclose copy of an Agreement which was signed to-day by the Administrator-General of Northern Railways and Mr. Bland, on behalf of the British and Chinese Corporation, for the release of an unexpended balance of Northern Railway loan funds; and also a copy of a letter from Mr. Bland to the Administrator-General on the subject of this Agreement.\n\nUnder the Loan Agreement of the 10th October, 1898, the proceeds of the loan were to be applied to the construction of certain railways, including a branch line from Nu-erh-ho to prospective collieries at Nanpiao. The terms of the Agreement have been fulfilled up to date, except that the Nu-erh-ho-Nanpiao branch line has not been constructed, the reason assigned being that the Nanpiao coal has been ascertained to be unsuitable for railway purposes. There is still lying in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in London an unexpended balance of the loan amounting to over 150,000l., which is about the estimated cost of the Nu-erh-ho-Nanpiao line, and the deed which I inclose is intended to discharge the Chinese Government from the obligation of the Loan Agreement to construct that branch line, and to free the unexpended balance for other specified purposes connected with the welfare of the Imperial Railways of North China.\n\nThe interest of the bondholders being concerned, the sanction of the High Court in England to the Agreement will be necessary, and I understand from Mr. Bland that proceedings will be commenced forthwith for this purpose.\n\nThe Agreement seems to me to be a very fair one under the circumstances, and I have no hesitation in recommending the adoption of any proper steps which may facilitate the sanction of the High Court.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(For His Majesty's Minister),\n\n(Signed) STEPHEN LEECH.\n\nInclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nyear of\n\nThis Agreement is made at Peking on the 23rd day of the 2nd month of the 34th Kuang Hsü, corresponding to the 25th day of March, 1908, between the Director-General of the Imperial Railways Office of the Board of Communications, hereinafter referred to as the \"Director-General,\" of the one part, and the British and Chinese Corporation (Limited), hereinafter called the \"Corporation,\" of the other part.\n\nWhereas:\n\n1. In the year 1899 the Chinese Imperial Railway 5 per Cent. Gold Loan was issued for the total sum of 2,300,000l. in 23,000 bearer bonds of 100l. each, the said loan being unconditionally guaranteed by the Imperial Government of China, and each of the said bonds being sealed by the Chinese Minister in London and being, by the terms of the bond, declared to be entitled to a first charge upon the permanent way, rolling stock, and entire property, with the freight and earning of the then existing railway lines then partly constructed or in the course of construction or about to be constructed from Shanhaikuan to Sinminting, and from a point on the last-mentioned line near Shih-san-chan to Yingtzu and (by way of a branch line) from Nu-erh-ho to the collieries of Nanpiao, and each of the said bonds being expressed to be issued subject to and with the benefit of the Agreement next hereinafter stated.\n\n2. Under an Agreement (hereinafter called the \"Loan Agreement\"), dated the 10th October, 1898, and made between his Excellency Hu, Governor of Peking, as Director-General of the Railways of North China within and without Shanhaikuan,\n\n[2934 q-1]\n\n512",
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    {
        "id": 416497,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 662,
        "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "## 655\n\n4\n\n**political society is limited to 100 persons, and not more than 200 persons shall be allowed to attend a public meeting of a political nature. None but Chinese are permitted to become members of a political society or convene a public meeting of a political nature. Various punishments—fines and imprisonment—are specified for offences against these regulations, which are to come into force three months after the receipt of Imperial sanction.**\n\n## Administrative Reform\n\nThe \"Eastern Times\" of the 20th February has a leading article on the necessity of keeping the question of administrative reform in the forefront of the national policy.\n\nReviewing the history of the past few years, the journal mentions that since 1900, apart from the Russo-Japanese war, the foreign relations of China have been carried on with varying success or failure, but nothing has occurred to give serious cause for reflection. On the other hand, at home there has been one agitation after another; first that of the students, then that of the Court factions, and lastly that of the collision between the Sovereign and the people. All these questions have incidentally marked stages of progress. Thus, the assassination of the Governor of Anhui was instrumental in advancing the assimilation of the Manchu and Chinese races; and the railway agitation led to a platform being found for negotiations between Government and people. But the progress must be maintained. The racial difficulty will disappear when the constitutional question is settled. The solution adopted for the railway difficulty still leaves the Government authority as regards the Loan Agreement, and if the efforts of the people are relaxed it is doubtful whether control over the line can be retained. A settled policy is necessary on the question of constitution, and the establishment of a National Assembly must be kept steadily in view.\n\n## Miscellaneous\n\nThe following extract from the \"Universal Gazette\" (Hankow) is interesting, as being a résumé of last year's events, from the Chinese point of view:-\n\nIn foreign relations China has lost ground everywhere this year. In the 1st moon the Agreements for the Kowloon Railway were exchanged with the British. This railway is one of the five lines to be built by the British. The Wai-wu Pu, discarding the precedent of the Shanghae-Ningpo Railway, where the Company fixed the Agreement with the British, assumed this function itself, which rendered the more impracticable any yielding from the fixed proposals for the Su Hang-Ning line.\n\nThis was a very serious miscalculation. That month Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector-General of Customs, again raised the question of his returning to England. The British again pressed their Shanghae riot claims, which led to endless worry, until, in the 11th moon, the Shanghae Customs Taot'ai, Yuan Shu Hsun, paid 50,000 taels from his own pocket. On other nations thereupon bringing forward claims, the Wai-wu Pu ordered the former Shanghae Customs Taot'ai, Jui Cheng, to go to Shanghae and negotiate with the British Consul-General; but it is not yet known what the outcome will be.\n\nIn the 2nd moon the question of building the Tien-tsin-Chinking alone and cancelling the previous Agreement came up for discussion. As England and Germany absolutely refused, the Court ordered Chang Chih Tung to discuss the matter together with Yuan Shih K'ai. The Chinese found it impossible to carry the proposal to do it themselves, and in the 12th moon an Agreement was negotiated to build the line with a foreign loan. The name of the railway was, besides, altered to the Tien-tsin-P'u k'ou—a change said to be the work of a certain Minister to foreign parts, who, before being appointed envoy, was joint manager of the Anhui lines, and, against the popular wish, was for building the southern section, whereas most Anhui men wanted the northern section. The resulting bitter dispute led the Minister in question to arrange for the change to Tien-tsin-Pu k'ou in order to spoil the northern Anhui railway scheme.\n\nThe gentry and merchants of Kirin, because of the pressure of Japanese influence, decided to build and manage the railway between Kirin and Changchun by themselves, and the Board had sanctioned their request when the Japanese Minister suddenly took a hand in the matter, putting forth outrageous demands. After that, in the end, the Wai-wu Pu redeemed from the Japanese the Hsinminting-Fengtien Light Railway for 1,600,000 dollars, and also negotiated an Agreement with them that they would borrow half the capital that might be needed for future rebuilding of the Hsinminting-Fengtien Railway from the Japanese South Manchurian Railway Company, and that this also applied to the Kirin-Changchun Railway. Besides, the engineers and accountants engaged for both lines were to be Japanese. This Agreement was ratified on the 18th of the 4th moon at Port Arthur. At the same time in Manchuria there were questions with the Japanese over the Kaiping Fishery Company, the import of Japanese salt, the stationing of troops in neutral territory, the railway police, fishing rights at Hsiung Yueh, the Yalu forests, the mines at Chien Tai Shan and Tien Pao Shan and the coal-mines on either side of the Railway. Further, because of the never-ending troubles due to Japanese promiscuously living all over Kirin city, where the Concession area was not yet fixed, his Excellency Ta Kuei, the Tartar-General of Kirin, issued a Proclamation forbidding the practice, whereupon Japan by main force insisted on its being taken down and cancelled. But the military Governor Chao Erh Hsun held firm on all the above questions. The new Viceroy Hsu Shih Chang, however, on arriving at Fengtien compromised most of the questions, to the vast detriment of Chinese sovereign rights, though some cases remain unsettled up to the present time.\n\nThe Wai-wu Pu prohibited grain export from Dalny and Yingkow (Newchwang); the Japanese were even more recalcitrant, and, after waiting till the 8th moon, the Proclamation was finally withdrawn, and the Imperial Maritime Customs established at Dalny, in accordance with the terms of the Chinese-Japanese-Peking Treaty. The Inspector-General negotiated with Japan, after the Kiaochow question, a special Treaty with appended deeds to be tried for one year, which began in the 6th moon.\n\nWhen the opening of the Imperial Maritime custom-houses in Northern Manchuria was originally fixed for the 8th moon, however, the Russo-Japanese Joint Convention, owing to the dispute between Japan and Russia about the navigation rights on the Sungari River, and owing to the cessation of negotiations, when the original Plenipotentiary his Excellency Tang Shao-yi was appointed Governor of Fengtien, and the Russian Minister's frequent procrastinations and hindrances in the hopes of fresh encroachments, has not up to date taken form.\n\nThe Russians in the first moon restored the gold-mines of Mo Ho in Heilungchiang Province, and abolished their Far-Eastern Viceroy, but they refused to give back the forty-six villages on the eastern bank of the Amur River. They further stationed thirty-five soldiers in Kirin, removed the war-time army base at Harbin to Irkutsk, and linked the Chih T'a defence force with Vladivostock.\n\nHence in Manchuria Japanese influence is paramount. Nevertheless in the 8th moon the Russians privately moved San Hsing and the Polichiens (Russian name) boundary marks so as to take in 160 square li of Chinese territory, which were only recovered after negotiations.\n\nIn the fourth moon his Excellency Ch'eng Te Ch'uan, the Governor of Hei Lung Chiang, memorialized the Throne to the effect that Japanese were illicitly selling weapons for the mounted bandits, and requested that the Wai-wu Pu be ordered to negotiate with the Japanese Minister, but there were continual cases of Japanese selling arms to the mounted bandits in the Jehol district, and, as to Tien-tsin, the Japanese engaged in the trade in smuggled arms were arrested by our police, and the matter made a diplomatic question, while the German firm, Arnhold Karberg and Co., were caught by the Imperial Maritime Customs at Tien-tsin in an attempt to smuggle munitions of war and 7,000 rifles. This proves how foreigners exploit our troubles. On the 5th of the same month, the Japanese General Terauchi made a tour of inspection through Corea and came into Manchuria, really, though not openly, on a strategic mission.\n\nShortly afterwards they set up an office of the Corean Superintendency at Chientao with its gendarmes stationed ostensibly for the protection of Coreans, which was the beginning of the invasion of Chientao.\n\nChientao without doubt belongs to China, and is situated in the newly established sub-Prefecture of Yen Chi Ting. This is vouched for by historical records to the knowledge of Chinese and foreigners alike. On the question being in dispute with Japan Ch'en Chiang Shao was appointed Boundary Commissioner, but the Japanese resorted to chicanery and bullying, and we have hitherto been unable to settle the question. The Japanese have been secretly making military preparations in case of trouble.\n\nThat month the British merchant Little bought mining property in Chiang Pei sub-Prefecture in Szechuan, and the Szechuanese, though they objected, were unable to get it back.\n\nMr. Maguire, the British engineer lurking at T'ung Kuan Shan in Anhui, has been more independent, and without giving notice has begun work on his own. He has even now sunk a shaft, and done mining in defiance of the claim that the Agreement is obsolete and of other mining laws. Is this conduct to be borne?\n\n5\n\n[2960 g-1]",
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    {
        "id": 428121,
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        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910",
        "page_number": 46,
        "title": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910",
        "content_text": "[B]\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government]\n\nCHINA RAILWAYS.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[47078]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[January 3.]\n\nSECTION 2.\n\n45\n\nYour Excellency,\n\nSir Edward Grey to Count Benckendorff.\n\nForeign Office, January 3, 1910.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the memorandum left here by M. Etter on the 28th ultimo, stating that the United States Ambassador at St. Petersburgh had handed M. Isvolsky a note of certain proposals, with a view to preserving the undisturbed enjoyment by China of all political rights in Manchuria, and to promoting the development of the province under a practical application of the policy of the open door and equal commercial opportunity.\n\nThe United States Government were further of opinion that, should the above suggestion not be found feasible in its entirety, the desired end would be attained by the Powers in favour of the principle of the commercial neutralisation of Manchuria adhering to the agreement established between the United States, Great Britain, and China to carry out in common the construction of a line from Chenchow to Aigun, and of other lines, the construction of which would become necessary as a result of the commercial development of Manchuria.\n\nAs some misunderstanding appears to exist in regard to the attitude of His Majesty's Government towards this latter project, I have the honour to bring the following facts to your Excellency's notice:--\n\nSome time ago I was approached by a British firm with a request that I should overcome the opposition which they implied the Japanese Government were making to a proposed railway from Sinmingting to Fakumen, which, it was alleged, would compete with the South Manchurian Railway. The proposal for this line has, as your Excellency is no doubt aware, been put on one side for the moment.\n\nAt the time I took up the position that it would be unreasonable and contrary to the policy of the open door if the Japanese Government were to oppose all railway enterprise in Manchuria and to claim a monopoly for their own railway; on the other hand, I frankly admitted that it was reasonable that they should in their discussions with the Chinese Government stipulate for proper safeguards against undue competition by the building of new railways in Southern Manchuria.\n\nThe United States Ambassador in London informed me in October last that his Government were anxious to see the so-called Hukuan loan for the building of a line from the Yang-tsze to Szechuan concluded, as an American and British group were negotiating with the Chinese Government for the construction of a railway from Chenchow to Aigun via Tsitsihar, which could not be proceeded with until the Hukuan question was settled.\n\nThe British group in question, which turned out to be the one interested in the Sinmingting-Fakumen scheme, approached this Department on the subject at about the same time.\n\nI told his Excellency that I was glad that American and British enterprise should be engaged together in the Far East, but that I had not so far taken any action in connection with the undertaking in question, and went on to explain what had passed unofficially between myself and the Japanese Ambassador with regard to railways in Manchuria. M. Kato had informed me that in the opinion of the Japanese Government the Tsitsihar line would probably be prejudicial to the South Manchurian Railway, as it might tap the through traffic and thus starve their line. They had, however, admitted that they could not oppose the project in principle, but would ask for participation in it.\n\nThe United States Ambassador has recently made proposals to me of a similar character to those now made to the Russian Government. My reply was to the effect that the general principle involved in the larger scheme, that is to say, the bringing of the Manchurian highways and the railroad under an impartial administration by some plan vesting in China the ownership of the railroads through funds furnished for the\n\n[2581 -2]",
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