Mr. Hitchcock to Mr. Day.
St Petersburg, May 25, 1898.
Sir: Referring further to the Department’s No. 57 of April 30th, and more especially to the last paragraph of the copy of the dispatch No. 2875 from our minister at Peking, referring to the probable attitude of Russia with respect to the construction of railroads in Manchuria, I have the honor to report having to-day availed of a fitting opportunity to bring this matter to the notice of his excellency Count Mouravieff, by asking him whether any reservations in favor of Russia, with respect to the construction of railroads in Manchuria appeared in its lease, from China, of Port Arthur and Ta-lien-wan, to which his excellency replied in the affirmative, the agreement being that the Russian Government shall control all such construction.
His excellency further stated, in reply to an inquiry from me, that the rumor that no one would be allowed to land at Ta-lien-wan without a passport viséd by the Russian consul at Tientsin was without the slightest foundation.
I have, etc.,