Chargé Fletcher to
the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Peking, January 31,
1910.
No. 1348.]
Sir: In continuation of my No. 1347, of the
24th instant, on the subject of Manchurian railways and with especial
reference to the Chinchow-Aigun Railway, I have the honor to inclose
translation of the reply of the foreign office to my note of the 24th
instant (copy of which was inclosed with my No. 1347).
The Wai-wu Pu states explicitly that “the memorial which was sent in on
the 20th of January, 1910, and which received the imperial rescript, did
relate to the agreement drawn up between the viceroy of Manchuria and
the governor of Fengtien on the one side and the American banking group
and the British firm of Pauling & Co. on the other side, concerning
the construction of a railroad from Chinchow to Aigun by installments.
But this preliminary agreement contains certain provisions which are not
acceptable and which must be changed, and the viceroy of Manchuria will
need to reconsider the same in consultation with the representative of
the American banking group and draw up a detailed and satisfactory
agreement.”
I have, etc.
[Inclosure—Translation.]
The Prince of Ching
to Chargé Fletcher.
The
Foreign Office,
Peking, January 27,
1910.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s dispatch on the subject
of the memorial sent by my board regarding the construction of the
railway from Chinchow Fu to Aigun in installments by means of a
foreign loan to be negotiated by the viceroy of Mancharia and
others. You remark that the legation has not before it copies of the
memorials mentioned in my previous note, but that the American
Government takes it for granted that the imperial rescript recently
issued refers specifically to the preliminary agreement for the
construction, etc., of the railway from Chinchow to Aigun, signed on
October 2 last, between their excellencies the viceroy of Manchuria
and the governor of Fengtien and the representative of the American
banking group and Pauling & Co., and that this preliminary
agreement contains provisions for the preparation of a detailed
agreement satisfactory to all parties.
If the understanding of your excellency’s Government as to the
purport of the imperial rescript is correct, your excellency asks
that a reply may be sent so that the representative of the American
banking group may be advised to hold himself in readiness to consult
at the proper time with the viceroy of Manchuria and the governor of
Fengtien with regard to the detailed agreement to be drawn up.
[Page 255]
In reply to your excellency’s inquiry, I have the honor to state that
the memorial which was sent in on the tenth day of the twelfth moon
(Jan. 20, 1910), and which received the imperial rescript, did
relate to the agreement drawn up between the viceroy of Manchuria
and the governor of Fengtien on the one side and the American
banking group and the British firm of Pauling & Co. on the other
side, concerning the construction of a railroad from Chinchow to
Aigun by installments. But this preliminary agreement contains
certain provisions which are not acceptable and which must be
changed, and the viceroy of Manchuria will need to reconsider the
same in consultation with the representative of the American banking
group and draw up a detailed and satisfactory agreement.
This reply is sent to your excellency for transmission to the
American Government and that your excellency may instruct the
representative of the American banking group to act accordingly.
A necessary dispatch.
[seal of the wai-wu pu.]
