Mr. Allen to Mr.
Hay.
Legation of the United States,
Seoul, February 12,
1903.
No. 579.]
Sir: Continuing the subject of my dispatch No.
568, of January 28 last, regarding the matter of the settlement of the
question of the ownership of the railway foreshore at Chemulpo, I now
have the honor to hand you inclosed, for purpose of record, a final
reply from-the Korean minister for foreign affairs, dated the 10th
instant, accepting the definition of the terms of the agreement as made
by me for the foreign representatives on January 13 last.
This reply was not really necessary and was not expected, but it places
the whole matter of the said foreshore in much better position than it
might possibly be without it.
I have, etc.,
[Page 642]
[Inclosure.]
Mr. Ye Toh Chai
to Mr. Allen.
Foreign Office, February 10, 1903.
No. 4.]
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th of January this
year, in which you proposed seven things for the matter of granting
the filled-in ground of the general foreign settlement at Chemulpo
to the Seoul-Chemulpo Railway Company for its station. You state
that along this filled-in ground the Korean Government will make a
public road 15 meters wide; that the Korean Government will pay,
through the customs, 100 yen every month to the municipal council
for policing, lighting, and repairing this road; that the filled-in
ground is to be granted to the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad Company
during the period of its concession or during the time the
concession may be extended; that no tax is to be collected on this
ground and no title deeds are to be issued for this ground; that
when the Korean Government buys the Seoul-Chemulpo Railway, she can
use the ground for the same purpose, but no tax is to be collected
and no title deeds are to be issued for it; that the railway company
will be paid the amount actually expended in filling in the ground;
that when the station is removed, the municipal council shall
possess the ground as unoccupied ground of the general foreign
settlement to be sold at auction, but the Japanese Railway Company
will receive only the actual amount that they expended in filling in
the ground.
I beg to inform you that I have read this letter carefully and found
that it is a proper way to arrange the matter, and I have no
objections, but I fully agree with the same.
I have, etc.,
Ye Toh Chai,
Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
