File No. 893.51/1028.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State.
Peking, July 15, 1912.
Sir: Referring to the instruction expressed in your telegram of July 2, 12 noon, I have the honor to report that when the British minister was informed that all the six ministers interested in the pending loan negotiations had received instructions from their respective Governments upon the subject, he called a meeting of such ministers for the afternoon of July 8, at the British legation. * * *
It was then agreed by the ministers that the instructions received were directory in their terms, and, therefore, required that the ministers formally notify the Chinese in accordance therewith.
On July 9 the six ministers went together to the Waichiao Pu, where they were received by Mr. Lou Cheng Hsiang, the Premier, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, and by Mr. Hsiung Hsi-ling, the [Page 147] Minister of Finance. Sir John Jordan, the British minister, addressing his remarks to the Premier, spoke substantially as follows:
Our respective Governments have instructed us to inform your excellency that they can not approve of any loan being made to the Chinese Government by their nationals except upon the general lines of the conditions which are understood to have already been communicated by the representatives of the six groups to his excellency the Minister of Finance.
The Minister of Finance said it was impossible to accept the terms proposed. He had hoped that the ministers would induce or advise the bankers to relax the conditions specified in favor of a lesser loan of £10,000,000. He referred to Prince Ch’ing, who made a railroad contract contrary to the wishes of the people, and the result was a revolution. The same fate, he said, will attend the present Government if it disregards the will of the people.
The British minister then asked the Minister of Finance if the ministers present were authorized to inform their respective Governments that the Chinese Government refused to accept the terms of the proposed loan. Without directly replying to the question, the Minister of Finance turned to the British minister and asked him personally to use his influence to induce the bankers to relax their terms. He said the British minister had been influential in bringing about peace between the north and the south, and it was hoped that his like good offices would be used to induce the bankers to relax their terms. Sir John Jordan said he had no authority to do so. After a few general remarks the meeting adjourned and the foreign ministers left the conference.
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