You are aware that my conception of the policy to pursue in regard to the
line has been to represent to the Chinese the usefulness of railroads, the
insignificance of this particular road, and the unwisdom of declaring to the
world a disposition to look unfavorably upon an enterprise of the sort. I
have never held that the foreigners concerned had the right to undertake the
enterprise.
I propose now to use such exertions as may be appropriate to induce the
government to operate the line, or to let their countrymen operate it, after
they come into possession. I think that my colleagues will do the same.
[Inclosure.]
Articles of agreement relating to the Woosung
Railway.
The undersigned, William Frederick Mayers, Chinese secretary of Her
Britannic Majesty’s legation at Peking, on the one part, and Fêng,
intendant of the Su-Suug T’ai circuit, superintendent of customs at
Shanghai; Chu, invested by brevet with the third official rank, an
expectant Tao-t’ai on the staff of the province of Hupeh; and Shêng,
invested by brevet with the title of financial commissioner, an
expectant Tao-t’ai on the immediate list for appointment in the province
of Chihli, on the other part, have agreed to the following articles with
reference to the line of railway between Shanghai and Woosung:
The text of the present agreement having been compared and found correct,
the course of procedure to be pursued is now set forth in the following
articles:
I. Whereas in the matter of the railway, in the personal conference held
at Chefoo, between the high commissioner Li and the British minister Sir
Thomas Wade, on the subject of securing the Chinese rights of
sovereignty, it was mutually arranged that (the undersigned) Chu,
Tao-t’ai, and (the undersigned) Shêng, Tao-t’ai, should be appointed to
act in conjunction with (the undersigned) W. F. Mayers, Chinese
secretary, (of Her Britannic Majesty’s legation,) for the purpose of
arranging, in conference with (the undersigned) Tao-t’ai of shanghai,
the terms of an agreement in the nature of a compromise; the following
articles have now been agreed to by mutual consent, in the city of
Nanking, and have been submitted to and approved by the minister
superintendent of the Southern ports.
In testimony whereof the said articles have been signed in duplicate, one
copy to be retained on either side; the same to be submitted on the one
hand by (the undersigned) Tao-t’ai of Shanghai, &c., to the
minister-superintendent of the Northern ports, and the governor of the
province of Kiangsu, for their approval; and, on the other, by (the
undersigned) W. F. Mayers to Sir Thomas Wade, for
approval on his part.
II. It is arranged that the railway shall become the property of the
Chinese Government by absolute purchase; and, that after the land taken
up, the permanent way, rolling-stock, machinery, and other material
appertaining thereunto shall have, by this means, passed into the
possession of the Chinese Government, the foreign mercantile company,
under whose management the railway has heretofore been conducted, shall
cease from further interest or liability in respect of the same.
III. The amount which shall be paid for the land, permanent way,
rolling-stock, machinery, stations, and all other claims whatsoever,
shall be ascertained by an investigation of accounts in detail, for
which purpose Her Britannic Majesty’s consul and the Tao-t’ai of
Shanghai shall each nominate two merchants of proper standing and
respectability, and the amount thus ascertained shall be paid by the
Chinese Government, no unfair advantage being taken on either side. It
is at the same time provided that due
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allowance shall be made for depreciation according
to the usage of public companies in England, in consequence of the
active working of the line for the period of one year.
IV. The purchase-money shall be paid in three installments, one third to
be paid as soon as the total amount payable shall have been ascertained,
where upon the title-deeds for land now held by the railway company
shall be given up and lodged in the hands of the Tao-t’ai of
Shanghai;* one-third at the expiry of six months from the
first payment, and the remaining third at the expiry of one year from
the first aforesaid date, the Tao-t’ai of Shanghai giving notice
officially to Her Britannic Majesty’s consul to require the said company
to take the necessary steps for receiving payment.
V. At the expiry of the twelve months commencing with the 15th day of the
ninth moon of the second year of Kuang-sü, (corresponding to the 31st
October, 1876,) to wit, on the 15th day of the ninth moon of the third
year of Kuang-sü, (corresponding to the 21st October, 1877,) the
aforesaid purchase having been completed by the Chinese Government, and
all amounts due on account of the purchase-money having been paid in
full, a due account shall be taken of the land, permanent way,
rolling-stock, and other appurtenances of the railway, and the same
shall be handed over to the care and control of the Chinese Government,
at whose option it shall be, exclusively, to continue or desist from the
working of the line, without claim to interference on the part of the
foreign company heretofore concerned in the same. The purchase-money not
being paid in full by the Chinese Government, until the expiry of the
period of one year, the aforesaid company shall be free, for the space
of one year from the31st October, 1876, to conduct the working of the
line without pecuniary interest or liability in respect of the same on
the part of the Chinese Government. All regulations required to insure
protection shall be devised in concert, between Her Britannic Majesty’s
consul and the Tao-t’ai of Shanghai, and when drawn up, and agreed upon,
shall be implicitly obeyed.
VI. During the period of one year for which, pending the completion of
the payment due on the part of the Chinese Government, the company
aforesaid is at liberty to retain in its own hands the management of the
railway line now completed between Woosung and Shanghai, extending to a
distance of about thirty li (ten miles) from point to point, the said
company shall be authorized to run trains for the conveyance of
passengers only, but it is forbidden to infringe upon the customs
regulations, or to acquire additional land for further extension of the
line of railway.
VII. An amount of compensation shall be agreed upon, as may be found
suitable, and paid on account of the individual who was recently run
over and killed by an engine on the line.
VIII. The general outline of the terms of arrangement being, now fixed,
and admitting of no further modification, all correspondence on the
subject that may heretofore have passed between the Tao-t’ai at Shanghai
and Her Britannic Majesty’s cousul shall be canceled on either side and
no further contention shall take place with regard to the same.
IX. The course of action herein agreed to proceeds from the feelings of
amity and good will which prevail between the governments (of the
undersigned respectively) for the purpose of securing against
infringement the sovereign rights of the Government of China, and with
the view of equally insuring a benefit to the Chinese Government and
freedom from loss to the foreign merchants, to which end the Chinese
Government has agreed, as a special concession, to buy up the line of
railway. In any future case in which it may be desired to construct a
railway, or other similar works application shall, in the first
instance, be made for the sanction of the Chinese Government, and the
present arrangement shall not be construed into a precedent.
X. Account shall be taken of the terms of the contract entered into in
England with the skilled artificers employed on the railway line and
with Mr. George Morrison, the superintending engineer, and the
conditions of their respective engagements shall be fulfilled in good
faith by the payment of whatever salaries or wages may be found to be
due after the completion of the purchase of the line, the individuals in
question being either retained in service or sent back to England, as
may be determined; the said individuals, if retained in the employ of
the Chinese Government, obeying its directions in all respects, and
undertaking nothing without due authority.
Agreed to and signed at
Nanking, and to be authenticated under
seai on the return of the undersigned to Shanghai, this eighth day of the ninth moon of the
second year of the reign of Kuang-sü, corresponding to the 24th
day of October, in the year 1876.
- FÊNG.
- CHU.
- SHÊNG.
- W. F. MAYERS.
