Mr. Conger to Mr. Hay .
Peking , January 29, 1902 .
(Mr. Conger reports that he has been informed by Prince Ch’ing that the latter has done the best he could and has held out as long as possible, but that Russian possession of Manchuria has become intolerable, and that China must at once sign the convention or lose everything; that he has therefore agreed to sign the convention, modified as substantially stated in Mr. Conger’s dispatch No. 846, of December 12, 1901, and will also sign the separate agreement with the Russo-Chinese Bank, which practically gives exclusive privileges of industrial development in Manchuria.
Mr. Conger has reported to Prince Ch’ing Mr. Hay’s telegraphic instructions of December 6, 1901, and the British and Japanese ministers advised him to about the same effect; but it is expected that the signing of the convention and agreement will very soon take place.)